I 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  SWEETWATER 


LADIES'  HOME  JOURNAL 
LIBRARY  OF  FICTION 


THE  SPIRIT   OF 
SWEETWATER 


BY 

HAMLIN     GARLAND 

AUTHOR    OF 

WAYSIDE  COURTSHIPS 
MAIN-TRAVELED  ROADS 
PRAIRIE  SONGS,  ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA 

CURTIS  PUBLISHING 

COMPANY 


NEW  YORK 
DOUBLEDAY  & 
McCLURE  CO. 


''Copyright*  18^8,  Jky*   '-  • 

X,  S»ARL  AND. 


TO 

JESSIE  VIOLA 

AND 

HARRIET  EDITH  GARLAND 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 


Part  I 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  MOUNTAINS 

As  the  sun  sinks 
A  nd  the  canons  deepening  in  color 

A  dd  mystery  to  silence 

Then  the  lone  traveller  lying  out-stretched 
Beneath  the  silent  pines  on  some  high  range 
Watches  and  listens  in  ecstasy  of  fear 

A  nd  timorous  admiration. 

In  the  roar  of  the  stream  he  catches 

The  reminiscent  echo  of  colossal  cataracts  ' 

In  the  cry  of  the  cliff -bird 
He  thinks  he  hears  the  eagle's  scream 
Or  yowl  of  far-off  mountain-lion  ; 

In  the  fall  of  a  loose  rock 

He  fancies  the  menacing  footfall  of  the  grizzly  bear; 
A  nd  in  the  black  deeps  of  the  lower  canon 

His  dreaming  eyes  detect  once  more 
Prodigious  lines  ofbuffalo  crawling  snake-wise 
Athwart  the  stream^ 

Or  files  of  Indian  warriors 
Winding  downward  to  the  distant  plain, 

Where  camp-fires  gleam  like  stars. 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 


CHAPTEE   I 

One  spring  day  a  young  man  of  good 
mental  furnishing  and  very  slender  purse 
walked  over  the  shoulder  of  Mount  Mo- 
gallon  and  down  the  trail  to  Gold  Creek. 
He  walked  because  the  stage  fare  seemed 
too  high. 

Two  years  and  four  months  later  he  was 
pointed  out  to  strangers  by  the  people  of 
Sweetwater  Springs.  "  That  is  Eichard 
Clement,  the  sole  owner  of  '  The  Witch/ 
a  mine  valued  at  three  millions  of  dol 
lars."  This  in  itself  was  truly  an  epic. 

Sweetwater  Springs  was  a  village  in  a 
canon,  out  of  which  rose  two  wonderful 
springs  of  water  whose  virtues  were 
3 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

known  throughout  the  land.  The  village 
was  wedged  in  the  canon  which  ran  to  the 
mighty  breast  of  Mogallon  like  a  fold  in 
a  king's  robe. 

The  village  and  its  life  centered  around 
:thc  pavilion  which  roofed  the  spring,  and 
Clement  spent  his  evenings  there  in  order 
;  <tc  ,£G:3  the  people,  at  least,  as  they  joyously 
thronged    about    the    music-stand    and 
sipped  the  beautiful  water  which  the  Utes 
long,  long  ago  called  "  sweet  water/'  and 
visited  with  reverence  and  hope  of  return 
ing  health. 

Since  the  coming  of  his  great  wealth 
Clement  had  not  allowed  himself  a  day's 
vacation,  and  he  had  grown  ten  years 
older  in  that  time.  There  were  untimely 
signs  of  age  in  his  hair  and  in  the  troubled 
lines  of  his  face.  He  was  a  young  man, 
but  he  looked  a  strong  and  stern  and  care 
worn  man  to  those  whose  attention  was 
called  to  him.  He  was  a  conscientious 
man,  and  the  possession  of  great  wealth 
was  not  without  its  gravities. 

For  the  first  time  he  felt  it  safe  to  leave 
4 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

his  mine  in  other  hands.  He  had  a  long 
ing  to  mix  with  his  kind  once  more,  and 
in  his  heart  was  the  secret  hope  that  some 
where  among  the  women  of  the  Springs 
he  might  find  a  girl  to  take  to  wife.  He 
arranged  his  vacation  for  July,  not  be 
cause  it  was  ever  hot  at  the  Creek,  but 
because  he  knew  the  Springs  swarmed  at 
that  time  with  girls  from  the  States.  It 
would  have  troubled  him  had  any  one  put 
these  ideas  into  words  and  accused  him 
of  really  seeking  a  bride. 

He  was  a  self-unconscious  man  natur 
ally,  and  he  hardly  realized  yet  how  widely 
his  name  had  gone  as  the  possessor  of  mil 
lions.  He  supposed  himself  an  unnoticed 
atom  as  he  stood  at  the  spring  on  the 
second  night  of  his  stay  in  the  village. 
Of  a  certainty  many  did  not  know  him, 
but  they  saw  him,  for  he  was  a  striking 
figure — a  handsome  figure — though  that 
had  never  concerned  him.  He  was,  in 
fact,  feeling  his  own  insignificance. 

He  was  standing  there  in  shadow  look 
ing  out  somberly  upon  the  streams  of 
5 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

people  as  they  came  to  take  their  evening 
draught  at  the  wonderful  water  of  the 
effervescing  spring.  The  sun  had  gone 
behind  the  high  peaks  to  the  west,  and 
a  delicious,  dry  coolness  was  in  the  canon- 
It  seemed  to  Clement  to  be  a  very  fash 
ionable  and  leisurely  throng — so  long  had 
he  been  absent  from  people  either  modish 
or  easeful.  He  felt  himself  to  be  hope 
lessly  outside  all  this  youth  and  brilliancy 
and  merriment,  and  he  looked  upon  it 
all  with  a  certain  wistfulness. 

He  perceived  at  length  that  the  strollers 
were  not  all  of  the  same  conditions.  There 
were  rough,  brown  cow-boys  from  La 
Junta  and  Cajon,  and  miners  in  rough 
dress  down  from  the  gulches  for  a  night, 
but  mainly  the  promenaders  appealed  to 
him  with  elegance  of  dress  and  manner. 

Many  of  the  ladies  came  without  hats, 
which  added  to  the  charm  of  their  eyes 
and  hair.  Some  of  them  looked  twice  at 
the  tall  man  with  the  big  mustache  and 
broad  hat,  who  seemed  to  be  watching  for 
some  tardy  friend. 

6 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

As  he  studied  them  his  memory  fresh 
ened  and  he  came  to  understand  them 
better.  He  analyzed  them  into  familiar 
types.  This  was  a  banker  and  his  wife 
from  some  small  town — the  wife  fussy 
and  consequential,  the  husband  coldly 
dignified.  This  group  was  composed  of 
a  doctor  and  his  daughters.  Behind  them 
came  a  merchant  from  some  Nebraska 
town — he  rough  of  exterior,,  his  children 
dainty  of  dress  and  very  pretty.  Occa 
sionally  a  group  of  college-bred  girls  came 
up  without  escort — alert,  self-helpful  and 
serene.  They  saw  Clement  at  once,  and 
studied  him  carefully  as  they  drank  their 
beauty  cup  at  the  circular  bench  before 
the  spring.  All  good-looking  men  had 
interest  to  them. 

All  classes  came,  a  varied  stream,  yet 
they  were  Western,  and  of  the  well-to-do 
condition  for  the  larger  part. 

The  deft  boy  .swung  the  glasses  of  water 

on    his    tripartite    dipper    with    ceaseless 

splash  and  clink.     There  was  a  pleasant 

murmur  of  talk  in  which  an  Eastern  lis- 

7 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

tener  would  have  heard  the  "  r "  souiid 
well-defined.  There  were  many  couples 
seated  about  the  pavilion  on  the  benches 
and  railings.  It  was  all  busy  yet  tranquil. 
Each  loiterer  had  fed,  had  taken  his 
draught  of  healing  water — and  this  was 
the  hour  of  pleasant  gossip  and  repose. 
Clement  fell  at  last  to  analyzing  the  action 
of  the  boy  who  supplied  the  water  at  the 
pool.  He  slammed  the  glasses  into  the 
pool,  and  set  them  on  the  bench  with  a 
click  as  regular  as  a  pump.  Occasionally, 
however,  he  was  indifferent.  With  some 
of  his  customers  he  handled  the  glasses 
as  if  they  contained  nectar,  thus  indi 
cating  his  generous  patrons.  Once  he 
stopped  and  dipped  the  glass  into  the 
pool  with  his  own  hand — a  doubtful 
action — and  extended  it  with  a  bow  to  a 
young  lady  who  said  "thank  you "  so 
sweetly  that  he  blushed  and  stammered 
in  reply. 

All  this  fixed  Clement's  attention,  and 
as  the  young  girl  lifted  the  glass  in  her 
slim  hand  he  wondered  how  she  had 


mam 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

escaped  his  notice  for  a  single  moment.  A 
woman  at  his  side  said  sighfully,  "  There 
is  that  consumptive  girl  again,  she  hasn't 
long  to  stay."  She  was  as  pale,  as  fragile, 
and  as  lovely  as  the  mountain  columbine. 
Her  face  was  thin,  and  her  head  shapely, 
but  her  eyes!  They  burned  like  rarest 
topaz — deep,  dark  and  sad.  Clement 
shivered  as  he  felt  them  fixed  upon  him, 
and  yet  he  could  not  turn  away  as  he 
should  have  done. 

He  gazed  at  her  with  a  sudden  feeling 
which  was  not  awe,  nor  compassion,  nor 
love,  but  was  all  of  these.  He  felt  in  his 
soul  the  subtlest  sadness  in  all  the  world 
— the  sadness  of  a  strong  man  who  looks 
upon  a  beautiful  young  girl  who  is  dying. 

Extremest  languor  was  in  every  move 
ment.  She  was  dressed  in  dark,  soft  gar 
ments — very  simple  and  graceful  in  effect, 
and  her  bearing  was  that  of  one  accus 
tomed  to  willing  service  from  others. 
Her  smile  was  as  sad  as  her  eyes  which 
had  in  them  the  death-shadow. 

Clement's  action,  the  unwavering  self- 
9 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

forgetful  intentness  of  his  look,,  arrested 
her  attention,  and  she  returned  his  gaze 
for  an  instant,  and  then  turned  away  and 
took  the  arm  of  an  elderly  gentleman  who 
stood  beside  her.  She  moved  slowly,  as  an 
invalid  walks  when  for  the  first  time  she 
is  permitted  a  short  walk  in  the  outdoor 
air,  leaning  heavily  on  her  companion. 

The  big  miner  roused  himself  and 
stood  straight  and  tall,  hesitating  whether 
to  follow  or  not — a  sudden  singular  pain 
in  his  heart,  as  if  he  were  losing  some 
thing  very  close  to  his  life. 

He  obeyed  the  impulse  to  follow,  and 
moved  down  the  path,  just  out  of  reach 
of  observation,  he  fancied.  As  he  made 
way  through  the  crowd  he  grew  aware 
again  of  his  heavy  limbs,  of  his  great 
height,  of  his  swinging,  useless  hands.  It 
had  been  so  long  since  he  had  mingled 
with  a  holiday  company,  he  appeared  as 
self-conscious  as  a  boy. 

Once  the  fair  invalid  turned  and  looked 
back,  but  she  was  too  far  away  for  him  to 
discern  the  expression  of  her  face.  He 
10 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

was  not  possessed  of  self-esteem  enough  to 
believe  she  had  turned  to  look  for  him. 

He  followed  them  in  their  slow  pace  till 
they  turned  in  at  the  doorway  of  the 
principal  hotel  of  the  village.  They 
entered  at  the  ladies'  door  while  he  kept 
on  to  the  main  entrance  and  rotunda. 
There  was  no  elevator  in  the  house,  and 
the  invalid  paused  a  moment  before  at 
tempting  the  stairway.  It  was  pitiful  to 
see  her  effort  to  make  light  of  it  all  to  her 
companion,  who  was  quite  evidently  her 
father.  She  smiled  at  him  even  while 
she  pressed  one  slim  hand  against  her 
bosom. 

Clement  longed  to  take  her  in  his  arms 
and  carry  her  up  the  stairway — it  seemed 
the  thing  most  worth  doing  in  all  the 
world — but  he  could  only  lean  against  the 
desk  and  see  them  go  slowly  stair  by  stair 
out  of  sight. 

"  Who  are  they?  "  he  asked  of  the  clerk 
whom  he  detected  also  watching  them 
with  almost  the  same  breathless  interest. 

"  Chicago  merchant,  G.  B.  Eoss.  That's 
11 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

his  daughter.  She's  pretty  far  gone — 
consumption,  I  reckon.  It  looks  tough 
to  see  a  girl  like  that  go  off.  You'd  think 
now " 

Clement  did  not  remain  to  hear  the 
clerk  moralize  further;  he  went  imme 
diately  to  his  own  hotel,  paid  his  bill,  and 
ordered  his  baggage  sent  to  the  other 
house.  He  wondered  at  himself  for  this 
overpowering  interest  in  a  sick  girl,  and 
at  his  plan  to  see  her  again. 

He  reasoned  that  he  would  be  able  to 
see  her  at  breakfast  time,  provided  she 
came  down  to  breakfast,  and  provided  he 
hit  upon  the  same  hour  of  eating.  He 
began  to  calculate  upon  the  probable  hour 
when  she  would  come  down.  It  was  as 
tounding  how  completely  she  occupied  his 
thought  already. 

He  struck  off  up  the  canon  where  no 
sound  was,  other  than  the  roar  of  the  wild 
little  stream  which  seemed  to  lift  its  voice 
in  wilder  clamor  as  the  night  fell.  Its 
presence  helped  him  to  think  out  his  situ 
ation.  He  had  grown  self -analytical  dur- 
12 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

ing  his  life  in  the  camp,  where  he  was 
alone  so  far  as  his  finer  feelings  were  con 
cerned,  and  he  had  come  to  believe  in 
many  strange  things  which  he  said  noth 
ing  about  to  any  friend  he  had. 

He  had  come  to  believe  in  fate  and  also 
in  intuition.  A  powerful  impulse  to  do 
he  counted  higher  than  reason.  That  is 
to  say.,  if  he  had  a  powerful  impulse  to  run 
a  shaft  in  a  certain  direction  he  would 
so  act,,  no  matter  if  his  reason  declared 
dead  against  it.  The  hidden  and  uncon 
trollable  processes  of  his  mind  had  given 
him  the  secret  of  "  The  Witch's "  gold, 
had  led  him  right  in  his  shafting  and  in 
his  selection  of  friends  and  assistants — 
and  had  made  him  a  millionaire  at  thirty- 
seven  years  of  age.  He  was  prone  to  over 
value  the  intuitional  side  of  his  nature, 
probably — an  error  common  among  prac 
tical  men. 

Fate  was,  with  him,  luck  raised  to  a 

higher  power.     What  was  to  be  would  be; 

the  unexpected  happened;  the  expected, 

hoped  for,  labored  for,  did  not  always 

13 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

happen.  All  around  him  men  stumbled 
upon  mines,  while  other  men,  more  skil 
ful,  more  observant,  failed.  The  luck  was 
against  them. 

It  was  quite  in  harmony  with  his  nature 
that  he  should  be  absorbed  in  the  singular 
and  powerful  impulse  he  had  to  seek  an 
acquaintance  with  that  poor  dying  girl. 

Dying!  At  that  word  he  rebelled.  God 
would  not  take  so  beautiful  a  creature 
away  from  earth;  men  needed  her  to  teach 
them  gentleness  and  submission.  More 
than  this,  he  had  an  almost  uncontrol 
lable  impulse  to  go  to  her,  and  putting 
aside  doctors  say  to  her: 

"I  am  the  one  to  heal  you." 

He  had  never  had  an  impulse  to  heal 
before,  but  the  fact  that  it  was  unaccount 
able  and  powerful  and  definite,  fitted  in 
with  his  successes.  He  gave  it  careful 
thought.  It  must  mean  something  be 
cause  it  had  never  come  to  him  before, 
and  because  it  rose  out  of  the  mysterious 
depths  of  his  brain. 

She  must  not  die!  The  wind,  the 
14 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

mountains,  the  clear  air,  the  good,  sweet 
water,  the  fragrant  pines,  the  splendid 
sun — these  things  must  help  her.  "  And 
I,  perhaps  I,  too,  can  help  her?  " 

Back  in  the  glare  of  the  hotel  rotunda, 
with  its  rows  of  bored  men  sitting  stolidly 
smoking,  idly  talking,  his  impulse  and  his 
resolution  seemed  very  unmanly  and  pre 
posterous.  It  is  so  easy  to  lose  faith  in 
the  elemental  in  the  midst  of  the  super 
ficial  and  ephemeral  of  daily  habit. 


15 


CHAPTEE   II 

Clement  was  an  early  riser,  and,  not 
withstanding  his  restless  night,  was  astir 
at  six.  The  whole  world  had  changed  for 
him.  It  was  no  longer  a  question  of  ore 
and  amalgams,  it  was  a  question  of  when 
he  should  see  again  that  sad,  slender 
woman  with  the  hopeless  smile. 

He  had  now  a  great  fear  that  she  would 
not  be  able  to  come  down  to  breakfast  at 
all,  but  as  her  coming  was  his  only  hope 
of  seeing  her  he  clung  to  it.  Eight 
o'clock  seemed  to  him  to  be  the  latest 
hour  that  any  one  not  absolutely  bed 
ridden  would  think  of  breakfasting,  and 
at  four  minutes  past  the  hour  he  entered 
the  dining-room. 

The  negro  waiter  tried  to  seat  him  near 
the  door,  but  he  pushed  on  down  the  hall 
toward  a  little  group  near  one  of  the 
sunny  windows,  which  he  took  to  be  the 
sick  girl  and  her  father,  and  so  it  proved. 

His  seat  at  a  table  next  to  theirs  brought 
16 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

her  profile  between  him  and  the  window, 
and  the  light  around  her  head  seemed  to 
glorify  her  till  she  shone  like  a  figure  in 
a  church  window.  She  seemed  not  con 
cerned  with  earth.  He  was  more  deeply 
moved  than  ever  before  in  his  life,  but  he 
concealed  it — the  only  sign  of  emotion 
was  in  the  tremor  of  his  hands. 

He  studied  the  sick  girl  as  closely  as 
he  could  without  seeming  to  stare.  She 
was  even  more  lovely  than  he  had  thought. 
His  eyes,  accustomed  only  to  rough 
women,  found  in  her  beauty  that  which 
was  flower-like,  seraphic. 

Her  face  was  very  thin,  and  her  neck 
too  slender  to  uphold  the  heavy  masses 
of  her  brown  hair.  Her  hands  were  only 
less  expressive  of  suffering  than  her  face. 
The  father  was  as  bluff  and  portly  and 
irascible  as  she  was  patient  and  gentle. 
He  bullied  the  waiter  because  he  did  not 
know  how  else  to  express  his  anxiety. 

"  Waiter,  this  steak  is  burned — it's  hard 
as  sole  leather.  Take  it  back  and  bring 

me " 

17 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"  Please  don't,  father;  the  trouble  is 
with  me.  I  have  no  desire  for  food." 
She  smiled  at  the  waiter  so  sweetly  that 
he  nodded  as  if  to  say,  "  I  don't  mind 
him,  miss/' 

The  father  turned  his  attention  to  the 
country. 

"Yes,  there  is  another  fraud.  I  was 
told  it  would  help  your  appetite,  and  here 
you  are  with  less  than  when  you  left  Hot 
Springs.  If  I'd  had  my  way " 

She  laid  a  hand  on  his  arm,  and  when 
he  turned  toward  her  his  eyes  were  dim 
with  tears.  He  blew  his  nose  and  coughed, 
and  looked  away  after  the  manner  of  men, 
and  suffered  in  silence. 

Once  she  turned  and  looked  at  Clement, 
and  her  eyes  had  a  mystical,  impersonal 
look,  as  though  she  saw  him  afar  off,  not 
as  an  individual  but  as  a  type  of  some 
admirable  elemental  creature.  He  could 
not  fathom  her  attitude  toward  him,  but 
he  thought  he  saw  in  her  every  action  the 
expression  of  a  soul  that  had  relinquished 
its  hold  on  things  of  the  earth.  Her 
18 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

desire  to  live  was  no  longer  personal. 
She  did  all  that  she  did  for  her  father 
and  her  friends  wholly  to  please  them. 

The  desire  to  aid  her  came  upon 
Clement  again — so  powerful  it  carried 
with  it  an  unwavering  belief  that  he  could 
help  her. 

What  was  his  newly-acquired  wealth 
good  for  if  he  could  not  aid  her?  Wealth? 
Yes — his  blood!  He  looked  at  his  great 
brown  hand  and  at  his  big  veins  full  of 
blood.  Why  should  she  die  when  he  had 
so  much  life? 

Meanwhile  his  common  sense  had  not 
entirely  fled  him.  He  perceived  that  they 
were  not  poor,  and  he  reflected  that  they 
had  probably  tried  all  climates  and  all  the 
resources  of  medical  science;  also  that  the 
father  had  quite  as  much  red  blood  in 
his  veins  as  any  other  man;  and  these 
considerations  gave  him  thought  as  he 
watched  them  rise  and  go  out  upon  the 
little  veranda. 

Clement  was  not  a  markedly  humble 
person  under  ordinary  conditions.  He 
19 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

had  a  fashion  of  pushing  rather  heedlessly 
straight  to  his  purpose — which  now  was 
to  speak  to  her,  to  meet  her  face  to  face, 
to  touch  her  hand  and  to  offer  his  aid. 
Naturally  he  sought  the  father's  acquaint 
ance  first.  This  was  not  difficult,  for  the 
waiters  in  the  dining-room  had  been 
pointing  him  out  to  the  guests  as  "  Mr. 
Clement,  the  meyonaire  minah."  The 
newspaper  correspondents  had  made  his 
name  a  familiar  one  to  the  whole  United 
States  as  "  one  of  the  sudden  multi 
millionaires  of  Gold  Creek." 

The  porter  had  "passed  the  word"  to 
the  head  waiter,  and  the  head  waiter  had 
whispered  it  to  one  or  two  others.  It  was 
almost  as  exciting  as  having  a  Presiden 
tial  candidate  enter  the  room.  Clement 
was  too  new  in  his  riches,  however,  to 
realize  the  extent  of  all  this  bustle  about 
him. 

When  he  rose  to  go  one  waiter  removed 

his   chair,    another   helped   him   lay   his 

napkin  down,  a  third  brushed  his  coat, 

and  the  head  usher  kindly  showed  him 

20 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

where  the  door  opened  into  the  hallway. 
It  was  wonderful  to  Clement,  but  he  laid 
it  to  the  management  of  the  hotel. 

There  were  limits  to  his  insanity,,  and 
he  did  not  follow  the  girl  out  on  the 
veranda,  but  when  Mr.  Eoss  came  down  a 
few  minutes  later  to  get  a  cigar  Clement 
plucked  the  proprietor  of  the  hotel  by 
the  arm. 

"  Introduce  me  to  Mr.  Eoss,  won't 
you?" 

The  landlord  beamed.  "  Certainly, 
Mr.  Clement."  He  took  Mr.  Eoss  by  the- 
lapel  familiarly.  "  Ah,  good-morning, 
Mr.  Eoss.  Mr.  Eoss,  let  me  introduce  my 
friend,  Mr.  Clement;  Mr.  Clement  you 
may  have  heard  of  as  the  owner  of  '  The- 
Witch '  and  the  '  Old  Wisconse/  " 

Mr.  Eoss  shook  hands.  He  was  not 
exactly  uncivil,  but  he  was  cool — very 
cool.  "I  have  heard  of  Mr.  Clement," 
he  said.  He  softened  a  little  as  he  got  a 
good  look  at  the  powerful,  clear-eyed 
young  fellow. 

The  landlord  expanded  like  one  who- 
21 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

lias  accomplished  a  good  deed.  "I 
thought  so,  I  thought  so.  Mr.  Clement, 
let  me  say,  is  a  square  business  man. 
Whatever  he  offers  you  is  worth  the 
price!  "  He  winked  at  Clement  as  he 
turned  away. 

Clement  began,  "  I  beg  your  pardon, 
Mr.  Eoss,  for  taking  this  liberty,  but  I 
wanted  to  know  you  and  took  the  first 
chance  that  offered.  I  have  no  mine  to 
sell — I  want  to  know  you — that's  all.  I 
wanted  to  meet  somebody  outside  the 
mining  interest.  I  saw  you  and  your 
daughter  at  the  pavilion  last  night.  She 
seems  to  be  not — very  strong."  He  hesi 
tated  in  his  attempt  to  describe  his  im 
pression  of  her. 

The  father's  theme  was  touched  upon 
now.  "  No,  poor  girl,  she  is  in  bad  con 
dition,  but  I  think  she's  better.  The  air 
rseems  not  to  have  made  her  worse,  at  any 
rate.  I  haven't  much  faith  in  climate, 
but  I  believe  she  has  improved  since  we 
left  Kansas  City  and  began  to  rise." 

He  had  a  marvelous  listener  in  Clement, 
22 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

and  they  consumed  three  cigars  apiece 
while  he  told  of  the  doctors  he  had  tried 
and  of  the  different  kinds  of  air  and  water 
they  had  sought. 

His  eyes  were  wet  and  his  voice  was 
tremulous. 

"  The  fact  is,  Mr.  Clement,,  she  don't 
seem  to  care  about  living — that's  what 
scares  me.  She's  just  as  sweet  and 
lovely  as  an  angel.  She  responds  to  any 
suggestion,,  '  Very  well,,  papa/  but  I  can 
see  she  does  it  for  me.  She  herself  has 
lost  all  hope.  It  ain't  even  that — she  has 
lost  care  about  it.  She  is  indifferent. 
She  is  going  away  from  me  just  because  I 
can't  rouse  her — 

He  frankly  broke  down  and  stopped, 
and  Clement  felt  his  throat  swell  too  tight 
for  speech  at  the  moment. 

They  sat  for  a  time  in  silence;  at  last 
Clement  said: 

"  Mr.  Eoss,  you  don't  know  me  except 
as  a  lucky  man — but  I  have  a  favor  to  ask: 
it  is  to  meet  your  daughter." 

There  was  something  very  winning  in 
23 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

the  young  man's  voice  and  manner,  and 
Mr.  Eoss  could  see  no  objection  to  it,  and 
it  might  interest  Ellice  to  meet  this  man 
who  had  stumbled  upon  a  gold  mine. 
"  Very  well,  suppose  we  go  up  now/'  he 
said,  almost  without  hesitation. 

The  girl  was  alone,  seated  in  an  easy- 
chair  in  the  sun — her  head  only  in 
shadow.  The  father  spoke  in  a  low  and 
•very  tender  voice,  "  Ellice,  I  want  to  pre 
sent  Mr.  Clement.  Mr.  Clement,  my 
daughter  Ellice." 

The  impossible  had  come  to  pass!  As 
Clement  bent  down  and  took  her  hand 
and  looked  into  her  eyes  his  heart  seemed 
to  stop  death-still  for  a  few  seconds — then 
something  new  and  inexplicable  took  pos 
session  of  him,  and  he  stood  before  her 
calm  and  clear-eyed.  "  Don't  move/'  he 
commanded,  "  I  will  draw  a  chair  near 
you." 

Mr.  Eoss  said  they  had  been  having  a 

long  talk,  and  she  listened,  smiling  the 

while    that   hopeless    smile.       Then    the 

father  rose  and  said:   "Where  is  Aunt 

24 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

Sarah?     I  want  to  go  down  to  the  tele 
graph  office." 

The  girl  spoke  in  the  quiet,  tranquil 
voice  of  one  to  whom  such  things  have  no 
importance.  "  I  don't  know,  papa.  A 
moment  ago  she  was  saying  something  to 
me,  and  now  she  is  gone.  That  is  all  I 
know.  Never  mind;  she'll  be  here  in  a 
moment." 

"  I'll  be  back  in  ten  minutes." 

"  I  am  all  right,  papa.  If  I  need  any 
thing  Mr.  Clement  can  call  Aunt." 

There  was  a  pause  after  Mr.  Eoss  went. 
Then  she  added  in  the  same  gentle,  emo 
tionless  way:  "  Poor  papa!  He  is  a  martyr 
to  me.  He  thinks  he  must  sit  by  me 
always.  I  think  he  fears  I  may  die  while 
he  is  gone." 

Clement  leaned  forward  till  his  eyes 
were  on  a  level  with  those  of  the  girl,  and 
his  voice  was  very  calm  and  penetrating 
as  he  said: 

"  What  can  I  do  for  you,  Miss  Eoss?  I 
have  the  profoundest  conviction  that  I 
can  do  you  good." 

25 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

A  startled  look  came  into  the  big  brown 
eyes.  She  looked  at  him  as  a  babe  might, 
striving  to  comprehend. 

He  went  on,  "  Here  I  am  a  millionaire, 
a  strong  young  man — what  can  I  do  for 
you?" 

"I  think  I  understand  you,"  she  said 
slowly.  "  It's  very  good  of  you,  but  you 
can  do  nothing." 

"It  is  impossible,"  he  broke  forth  in 
answer,  and  his  voice  gave  her  a  percep 
tible  shock.  "  There  must  be  something 
I  can  do.  If  it  will  help  you  there  is  my 
arm — its  blood  is  yours."  He  stammered 
a  little.  "  It  isn't  right  that  one  so  young 
and  beautiful  should  die.  We  won't  let 
you  die.  There  must  be  something  I 
can  do.  This  wind  and  sun — and  the 
good  water  will  work  with  us  to  do  you 
good." 

His  voice  moved  her,  and  she  smiled 
with  the  tears  on  her  lashes.  "  It  does  me 
good  just  to  look  at  you.  You  are  so  big 
and  brown.  I  saw  you  at  the  spring  last 

night.     Perhaps  I  have  come  at  last 

26 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

She  coughed — a  weak,  flat  sound  which, 
made  him  shudder. 

She  tried  to  reassure  him.  "  Beally,  I 
have  coughed  less  than  at  any  time  during 
the  last  five  months." 

He  faced  her  again.  "  Miss  Boss,  I  felt 
last  night  a  sudden  desire  to  help  you. 
I  helieved  I  had  the  power  to  help  you — 
I  don't  know  why — Fin  not  a  healer/'  He 
smiled  for  the  first  time.  "  But  I  felt  per 
fectly  sure  I  could  do  you  good.  I  feel 
•that  way  now.  I  never  had  such  a  feeling 
toward  any  person  before.  It  is  just  as 
strange  to  me  as  it  is  to  you/' 

She  was  looking  at  him  now  with 
musing  eyes. 

"  That  is  the  curious  part  of  it"  she 
said.  "  It  doesn't  seem  strange  at  all.  It 
seems  as  if  I  had  been  wanting  to  hear 
your  voice — as  if  I  had  known  of  you  all 

my  life "  She  tried  to  suppress  her 

coughing,  and  he  was  in  agony  during  the 
paroxysm.  The  nurse  came  hurrying  out, 
and  while  he  waited  at  one  side  Clement 
felt  that  if  he  could  have  taken  her  by  the 
27 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

]  hands  he  could  have  prevented  it.  It  was 
a  singular  conviction,,  but  it  was  most  defi 
nite.,  and  had  a  peculiar  air  of  actuality. 

When  she  lay  quiet  he  approached  agaii?. 
and  said:  "  Fll  go  now.  I  must  not  tire 
you.  But  remember,  I'm  going  to  come 
and  see  you,  and  I'm  going  to  do  you 
good.  Every  time  I  see  you  I  am  going 
to  will  to  you  some  of  my  vitality — my 
love  of  life.  For  I  love  life — it  is  beauti 
ful  to  live." 

She  gave  him  her  hand,  and  he  bowed 
and  left  her. 

She  lay  quietly  after  he  went  away  and 
smiled,  a  little,  wan  smile,  which  made 
her  pallor  the  more  pitiful.  It  was  all  so 
romantic  and  wonderful — this  big  man's 
coming.  He  was  so  unspoiled  and  so 
direct  of  manner.  She  had  the  hope  he 
would  come  again,  and  it  seemed  not  im 
possible  that  he  might  help  her,  his  voice 
was  so  stirring  and  his  hands  so  big  and 
strong. 

Yet  she  was  beyond  the  reach  of  even 
the  conjectures  of  passion.  She  had  come 
28 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

to  a  certain  exterior  resignation  to  her 
fate.  The  world  had  lost  its  poignant 
interest — it  was  now  a  pageant  upon 
which  she  was  looking  for  the  last  time, 
yet  she  was  too  tired,  too  indifferent  to 
lift  her  hand  to  stay  it  in  its  course  even 
had  it  been  within  her  power. 

At  times,  however,  she  rebelled  at  her 
fate.  There  were  hours,  even  yet,  when 
she  lay  alone  in  her  bed  hearing  her 
father's  regular  stertorous  breathing  till  a 
great  wave  of  longing  to  live  swept  upon 
her,  and  she  was  forced  to  turn  her  face 
to  her  pillow  to  stifle  her  mingled  cough 
ing  and  sobbing. 

"  Oh,  Father,  let  me  live !  I  want  to 
live  like  other  women.  Oh,  dear  Father, 
grant  me  a  little  life!  " 

These  waves  of  passionate  rebellion  left 
her  weaker,  sadder,  more  indifferent  than 
ever,  and  as  coldly  pallid  almost  as  if 
death  had  already  claimed  her. 

On  the  night  following  Clement's  talk 
with  her  she  fell  asleep  while  musing  upon 
one  mind's  influence  upon  another.  Per- 
29 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

haps  if  she  could  only  believe  she  might 
be  helped;  perhaps  he  was  sent  to  help 
her.  It  had  been  long  since  such  a  per 
sonality  had  stood  before  her — indeed,  no 
such  man  had  ever  touched  her  hand  or 
looked  into  her  eyes. 

He  came  down  out  of  the  mountain 
heights  with  the  elemental  vigor  of  wind 
and  sun  and  soil  about  him  like  an  aura. 
A  man  of  great  natural  refinement,  he  had 
grown  strong  and  simple  and  masterful  in 
his  close  contact  with  Nature.  The  clay 
that  might  have  brutalized  another  nature 
had  made  him  a  mystic. 

There  was  something  mysterious  in  his 
eyes,  in  the  clasp  of  his  hand.  The  world 
was  all  inexplicable  to  her  anyhow.  Per 
haps  God  had  sent  him  to  help  her  just 
as  He  sends  healing  water  down  from  the 
mountain  peaks. 

In  thinking  these  things  she  fell  asleep, 
and  it  seemed  at  once  that  she  was  well 
again,  and  that  she  was  dressing  for  a 
walk.  Clement  had  called  for  her  to  climb 
the  mountains  with  him,  and  she  was  mak- 
30 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

ing  preparation  to  go,  working  swiftly  and 
unhesitatingly — and  it  seemed  deliciously 
sweet  to  be  swift  and  active  once  more. 
She  had  put  on  a  short  walking-skirt  and 
leggins  and  was  nearly  ready.  She  stood 
before  the  glass  to  put  on  her  cap,  and  as 
she  saw  how  round  and  pink  her  cheeks 
were  she  hardly  recognized  herself. 

She  seemed  to  hear  his  impatient  feet 
outside  on  the  veranda,  and  she  smiled  to 
think  how  typical  it  all  was  of  husbands 
and  wives — and  at  that  thought  her  face 
grew  pinker  and  she  turned  away — she 
didn't  want  her  own  eyes  to  see  how  she 
flushed. 

But  suddenly  all  warmth — all  flushing 
— left  her.  She  turned  cold  with  a  famil 
iar  creep  and  weakness.  She  could  not 
proceed.  Her  glove  was  half  on,  but  her 
strength  was  not  sufficient  to  pull  it 
further.  She  could  not  lift  her  feet. 

His  steady,  strong  tramp  up  and  down 

the  veranda  continued,  but  she  was  in  the 

grasp  of  her  old  enemy.     A  terrible  fear 

and  an  agony  of  desire  seized  her.     She 

31 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

wanted  to  go  out  into  the  bright  sunlight 
with  him,,  but  she  could  neither  move  nor 
whisper.  All  her  resolution,  her  hope, 
fell  away,  and  her  heart  was  heavy  and 
cold.  It  was  all  over.  He  would  wait 
for  a  while  and  then  go  away,  and  she 
would  stand  there  desolate,  helpless,  inert 
as  clay,  with  life  dark  and  empty  before 
her. 

"  Oh,  if  he  would  only  call  me!  "  was 
her  last  breath  of  resolution. 

Once,  twice  the  feet  went  up  and  down 
the  veranda.  Then  they  paused  before 
her  door. 

"  Are  you  ready?  "  his  voice  called. 

She  struggled  to  speak,  but  could  only 
whisper,  "  Yes." 

The  door  swung  quickly  open  and  he 
stood  there  in  the  streaming  sunlight  of 
the  morning— so  tall  he  was  he  seemed 
to  fill  the  doorway — and  he  smiled  and 
extended  his  hands. 

"  Come,"  he  said,  "  the  sturdy  old 
mountains  are  wonderfully  grand  this 
morning." 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

His  hand  closed  over  hers,  and  the  sun 
light  fell  upon  her,,  warming  her  to  the 
heart,  but  before  she  could  lift  her  eyes 
to  the  shining  peaks  she  awoke  and  found 
that  the  morning  sun  had  stolen  its  way 
through  a  half -opened  shutter  and  lay 
upon  her  hand. 

At  first  she  was  ready  to  weep  with  sad 
ness  and  despair,  but  as  she  thought  upon 
it  she  came  to  see  in  the  dream  a  good 
omen.  It  had  been  long  since  she  had 
dreamed  a  vision  of  perfect  health  with  no 
touch  of  impotence  at  its  close.  There 
was  something  of  hope  in  this  vision;  a 
man's  hand  had  broken  the  spell  of  weak 
ness. 


Part   II 


APRIL   DAYS 

Days  of  witchery  subtly  sweet, 
When  every  hill  and  tree  finds  heart, 
When  winter  and  spring  like  lovers  meet 
In  the  mist  of  noon  and  part — 
In  the  April  days. 

Nights  when  the  wood-frogs  faintly  peep — 
Tr-eep,  tr-eep — and  then  are  still, 
A  nd  the  woodpeckers'  martial  voices  sweep 
Like  bugle-blasts,  from  hill  to  hill, 
Through  the  breathless  haze. 

Days  when  the  soil  is  warm  with  rain, 
A  nd  through  the  wood  the  shy  wind  steals, 
Rich  with  the  pine  and  the  poplar  smell, — 
A  nd  the  joyous  soul  like  a  dancer,  reels 
Through  the  broadening  days. 

— From  "Prairie  Songs? 


CHAPTER   I 

This  dream  gave  to  Clement,  in  Ellice's 
eyes,  a  glamour  of  mystery  and  power 
— beyond  the  subtlety  of  words,  and  she 
met  him  in  a  spirit  of  awe  and  wonder, 
such  as  a  child  might  feel  to  find  one  of 
its  dream-heroes  actually  beside  the  fire 
side  in  the  full  sunlight  of  the  morning. 
The  fear  and  agony  and  joy  of  the  night's 
vision  gave  a  singular  charm  to  the 
meeting. 

It  startled  her  to  find  she  still  retained 
the  capability  of  being  moved  by  the 
sound  of  a  man's  voice.  It  seemed  like 
a  wave  of  returning  life. 

Her  heart  quickened  as  she  saw  him 
enter  the  dining-room  and  look  around  for 
her — and  when  his  eyes  fell  upon  her  a 
light  filled  his  face  which  was  akin  to  the 
morning.  She  did  not  attempt  to  analyze 
37 


CHAPTEE   I 

This  dream  gave  to  Clement,  in  Ellice's 
eyes,  a  glamour  of  mystery  and  power 
— beyond  the  subtlety  of  words,  and  she 
met  him  in  a  spirit  of  awe  and  wonder, 
such  as  a  child  might  feel  to  find  one  of 
its  dream-heroes  actually  beside  the  fire 
side  in  the  full  sunlight  of  the  morning. 
The  fear  and  agony  and  joy  of  the  night's 
vision  gave  a  singular  charm  to  the 
meeting. 

It  startled  her  to  find  she  still  retained 
the  capability  of  being  moved  by  the 
sound  of  a  man's  voice.  It  seemed  like 
a  wave  of  returning  life. 

Her  heart  quickened  as  she  saw  him 
enter  the  dining-room  and  look  around  for 
her — and  when  his  eyes  fell  upon  her  a 
light  filled  his  face  which  was  akin  to  the 
morning.  She  did  not  attempt  to  analyze 
37 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

the  emotion  thus  revealed,  but  she  could 
not  help  seeing  that  he  looked  the  em 
bodiment  of  health  and  happiness. 

He  wore  a  suit  of  light  brown  corduroy 
with  laced  miner's  boots,  and  they  became 
him  very  well. 

He  smiled  down  at  her  as  he  drew  near. 

"  You  are  better  this  morning,  I  can 
see  that." 

It  was  exactly  as  if  he  knew  of  her 
dream,  and  that  the  walk  had  been  actual, 
and  a  flush  of  pink  crept  into  her  face — 
so  faint  it  was  no  one  noticed  it — while  it 
seemed  to  her  that  her  cheeks  were  scarlet. 
What  magic  was  this  which  made  her 
flush — she  whom  Death  had  claimed  as 
his  own? 

Mr.  Eoss  invited  Clement  to  sit  with 
them,  as  she  hoped  he  would.  Clement 
had,  indeed,  intended  to  force  the  invita 
tion.  "  Fm  going  for  a  gallop  this  morn 
ing,"  he  said  in  explanation  of  his  dress. 
"I  wish  you  could  go  too,"  he  added, 
addressing  Ellice. 

Mr.  Boss  introduced  him  to  the  elderly 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

woman:  "Mr.  Clement,  let  me  present 
you  to  my  sister,  Miss  Boss." 

Miss  Eoss  was  plump  like  her  brother, 
and  a  handsome  woman,  but  irritable  like 
him.  She  complained,  also,  of  the  altitude 
and  of  the  chill  shadows.  Neither  father 
nor  aunt  formed  a  suitable  companion  for 
the  sick  girl. 

Clement  was  the  antidote.  His  whole 
manner  of  treatment  was  of  the  hopeful, 
buoyant  sort.  He  spoke  of  the  magnifi 
cent  weather,  of  the  mountains,  of  the 
purity  of  the  water. 

"  After  I  get  back  from  my  ride  I  wish 
you'd  let  me  come  and  talk  with  you. 
Perhaps/'  he  added,  "  you'll  be  able  to 
walk  a  little  way  with  me." 

He  made  the  breakfast  almost  cheerful 
by  his  presence,  and  went  away  saying: 

"  I'll  be  back  by  ten  o'clock  and  I  shall 
expect  to  find  you  ready  for  a  walk." 

Miss  Eoss  was  astonished  both  at  his 
assurance  and  at  Ellice's  singular  interest 
and  apparent  acquiescence. 

"Well,  that  is  a  most  extraordinary 
39 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

man.      I  wonder  if   that's  the  Western 


"  I  wish  I  were  able  to  do  as  he  says/' 
the  girl  said  quietly.  The  old  people 
looked  up  in  astonishment. 

"  Aunt  Sarah,,  I  want  you  to  help  me 
dress.  I'm  going  to  try  to  walk  a  little.'"' 

"Not  with  that  man?"  the  aunt  in 
quired  in  protest. 

"Yes,  Aunt."  Her  voice  was  vibrant 
with  fixed  purpose. 

"  But  think  how  you  would  look  lean 
ing  on  his  arm." 

"  Auntie,  dear,  I  have  gone  long  past 
that  point.  It  doesn't  matter  how  it 
looks.  I  cannot  live  merely  to  please  the 
world.  He  has  asked  me,  and  if  I  can  I 
will  go." 

Mr.  Eoss  broke  in,  "  Why,  of  course, 
what  harm  can  it  do?  I'd  let  her  lean  on 
the  arm  of  '  Cherokee  Bill  '  if  she  wanted 
to."  They  all  smiled  at  this,  and  he 
added,  "  The  trouble  has  been  she  didn't 
want  to  do  anything  at  all,  and  now  she 
shall  do  what  she  likes." 
40 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

It  all  seemed  very  coarse  and  common 
now,  and  she  could  not  tell  them  the 
secret  of  the  dream  that  had  so  impressed 
her,  and  of  her  growing  faith  that  this 
strong  man  could  help  her  back  to  health 
and  life.  She  only  smiled  in  her  slow, 
faint  way,  and  made  preparation  to  go 
with  him  who  meant  so  much  to  her. 

He  met  her  on  the  veranda  in  a  hand 
some  Prince  Albert  suit  of  gray  with  a 
broad-brimmed  gray  hat  to  match.  He 
looked  like  some  of  the  pictures  of  West 
ern  Congressmen  she  had  seen,  only  more 
refined  and  gentle.  He  wore  his  coat  un 
buttoned,  and  it  had  the  effect  of  draping 
his  tall,  erect  frame,  and  the  hat  suited 
well  with  the  large  lines  of  his  nose  and 
chin.  It  seemed  to  her  she  had  never 
seen  a  more  striking  and  picturesque 
figure. 

"  Fll  carry  you  down  the  stairs  if  you'll 
say  the  word,"  he  said  as  they  paused  a 
moment  at  the  topmost  step. 

"  Oh,  no.  I  can  walk  if  you  will  give 
me  time." 

41 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"  Time!  Time  is  money.  I  can't 
afford  it."  He  stooped  and  lifted  her  in 
his  right  arm,,  and  before  she  could  protest 
he  was  half  way  down  the  stairway.  He 
laughed  at  the  horrified  face  of  the 
aunt.  He  was  following  impulses  now. 
As  they  walked  side  by  side  slowly — she, 
not  without  considerable  effort  —  up 
toward  the  spring,  he  said  abruptly,  but 
tenderly: 

"  You  must  think  you're  better — that's 
half  the  battle.  See  that  stream?  Some 
day  I'm  going  to  show  you  where  it  starts. 
Do  you  know  if  you  drink  of  that  water 
up  at  its  source  above  timber-line  it  will 
cure  you?  " 

She  saw  his  intent  and  said,  "  I'm  afraid 
I'll  be  cured  before  I  get  to  the  spring." 

"  I'm  going  to  make  it  my  aim  in  life 
to  see  you  drink  at  that  pool."  His  di 
rectness  and  simplicity  stimulated  her  like 
some  mediaeval  elixir.  He  made  her  for 
get  her  pain.  They  did  not  talk  much 
until  they  were  seated  on  one  of  the 
benches  near  the  fountain. 
42 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"  Sit  in  the  sun,"  he  commanded. 
"  Don't  be  afraid  of  the  sun.  You  hear 
people  talk  about  the  sun's  rays  breeding 
disease.  The  sun  never  does  that.  It 
gives  life.  Beware  of  the  shadow/'  he 
added,  and  she  knew  he  meant  her  mental 
indifference.  They  had  a  long  talk  on 
the  bench.  He  told  her  of  his  family,  of 
himself. 

"  You  see/'  he  said,  "  father  had  only 
a  small  business,  though  he  managed  to 
educate  me,  and,  later,  nyy  brother.  But 
when  he  died  it  had  less  value,  for  I 
couldn't  hold  the  trade  he  had  and  times 
were  harder.  I  kept  brother  at  college 
during  his  last  two  years,  and  when  he 
came  out  I  gave  the  business  to  him  and 
got  out.  He  was  about  to  marry,  and  the 
business  wouldn't  support  us  both.  I  was 
always  inclined  to  adventure  anyway. 
Gold  Creek  was  in  everybody's  mouth,  so 
I  came  here. 

"  Oh,  that  was  a  wonderful  time;  the 
walk  across  the  mountains  was  like  a 
story  to  me.  I  liked  the  newness  of  every- 
43 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

thing  in  the  camp.  It  was  glorious  to 
hear  the  hammers  ringing,  and  see  the 
new  pine  buildings  going  up — and  the 
tent  and  shanties.  It  was  rough  here 
then,  but  I  had  little  to  do  with  that.  I 
staked  out  my  claim  and  went  to  digging. 
I  knew  very  little  about  mining,  but  they 
were  striking  it  all  around  me,  and  so  I 
kept  on.  Besides  " — here  he  looked  at 
her  in  a  curiously  shy  way — "  I've  always 
had  a  superstition  that  just  when  things 
were  worst  with  me  they  were  soonest  to 
turn  to  the  best,  so  I  dug  away.  My 
tunnel  went  into  the  hill  on  a  slight  up 
raise,  and  I  could  do  the  work  alone. 
You  see  I  had  so  little  money  I  didn't 
want  to  waste  a  cent. 

"But  it  all  went  at  last  for  powder 
and  the  sharpening  of  picks,  and  for  as 
saying — till  one  morning  in  August  I 
found  myself  without  money  and  without 
food." 

He  paused  there,  and  his  face  grew 
dark  with  remembered  despair,  and  she 
shuddered. 

44 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"  It  must  be  terrible  to  be  without  food 
and  money." 

"  No  one  knows  what  it  means  till  he 
experiences  it.  I  worked  all  day  without 
food.  It  seemed  as  if  I  must  strike  it 
then.  Besides,,  I  took  a  sort  of  morbid 
pleasure  in  abusing  myself — as  if  I  were 
to  blame.  I  had  been  living  on  canned 
beans,,  and  flapjacks,,  and  coffee  without 
milk  or  sugar,  and  I  was  weak  and  sick — 
but  it  all  had  to  end.  About  four  o'clock 
I  dropped  my  pick  and  staggered  out  to 
the  light.  It  was  impossible  to  do  any 
thing  more." 

There  were  tears  in  her  eyes  now,  for 
his  voice  unconsciously  took  on  the 
anguish  of  that  despair. 

"  I  sat  there  looking  out  toward  the 
mountains  and  down  on  the  camp.  The 
blasts  were  booming  from  all  hills — the 
men  were  going  home  with  their  dinner- 
pails  flashing  red  in  the  setting  sun's  light. 
It  was  terrible  to  think  of  them  going 
home  to  supper.  It  seemed  impossible 
that  I  should  be  sitting  there  starving, 
45 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

and  the  grass  so  green,,  the  sunset  so  beau 
tiful.  I  can  see  it  all  now  as  it  looked 
then,  the  old  Sangre  de  Christo  range! 
It  was  like  a  wall  of  glistening  marble 
that  night. 

"Well,  I  sat  there  till  my  hunger 
gnawed  me  into  action.  Then  I  stag 
gered  down  the  trail.  I  saw  how  foolish 
I  had  been  to  go  on  day  after  day  hoping, 
hoping  until  the  last  cent  was  gone.  I 
hadn't  money  enough  to  pay  the  extra 
postage  on  a  letter  which  was  at  the  office. 
The  clerk  gave  me  the  letter  and  paid  the 
shortage  himself.  The  letter  was  from 
my  sister,  telling  me  how  peaceful  and 
plentiful  life  was  at  home,  and  it  made  me 
crazy.  She  asked  me  how  many  nuggets 
I  had  found.  You  can  judge  how  that 
hurt  me.  I  reeled  down  the  street,  for  I 
must  eat  or  die,  I  knew  that." 

"  Oh,  how  horrible! "  the  girl  said 
softly. 

"  There  was  one  eating-house  at  which 
I  always  took  my  supper.  It  was  kept  by 
an  Irish  woman,  a  big,  hearty  woman 
46 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

whose  husband  was  a  prospector — or  had 
been.  '  Biddy  Kelly's '  was  famous  for  its 
'home  cooking/  I  went  by  the  door 
twice,  for  I  couldn't  bring  myself  to  go  in 
and  ask  for  a  meal.  You  don't  know  how 
hard  that  is — it's  very  queer,  if  a  man  has 
money  he  can  ask  for  credit  or  a  meal,  but 
if  he  is  broke  he'll  starve  first.  I  could 
see  Biddy  waiting  on  the  tables — the 
smell  that  came  out  was  the  most  deli 
cious,  yet  tantalizing,  odor  of  beef-stew — 
it  made  me  faint  with  hunger." 

His  voice  grew  weak  and  his  throat  dry 
as  he  spoke. 

"  When  I  did  enter,  Dan  looked  up  and 
said  respectfully,  '  Grood-evenin',  Mr. 
Clement/  and  I  felt  so  ashamed  of  my 
errand  I  turned  to  run.  Everything 
whirled  then — and  when  I  got  my  bear 
ings  again  Dan  had  me  on  one  arm  and 
Biddy  was  holding  a  bowl  of  soup  to  my 
lips." 

The  girl  sighed.  "  Oh,  she  was  good, 
wasn't  she  ?  " 

"  They  fed  me,  for  they  could  see  I  was 
47 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

starving,  and  I  told  them  about  the  mine 
— and,  well,  some  way  I  got  them  to 
'  grub-stake  *  me  that  night/' 

"What  is  that?" 

"  That  is,  they  agreed  to  furnish  me 
food  and  money  for  tools  and  share  in 
profits.  Dan  went  to  work  with  me,  and 
do  you  know,  it  ended  in  ruining  them 
both.  We  organized  a  company  called 
the  '  Biddy  Mining  Company/  I  was 
president,  and  Dan  was  vice-president, 
and  Biddy  was  treasurer.  Biddy  kept  us 
going  by  her  eating-house,  but  eventually 
we  wanted  machinery,  and  we  mortgaged 
the  eating-house,  and  the  money  went 
into  that  hole  in  the  ground.  But  I 
knew  we  would  succeed.  I  could  hear 
voices  call  me,  '  Come,  come! ' — when 
ever  I  was  alone  I  could  hear  them 
plainly." 

His  eyes,  turned  upon  her,  were  full  of 
mystery. 

"I  have  always  felt  the  stir  of  life 
around  me  in  the  dark,  and  there  in  that 
mine — after  we  struck  the  spring  of  water 
48 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

— I  thought  I  heard  voices  all  the  time  in 
the  plash  of  the  water.  I  suppose  it 
seemed  like  insanity,,  for  I  ruined  Dan  and 
Biddy  without  mercy.  I  couldn't  stop. 
I  was  sure  if  we  could  only  hold  out  a 
little  while  we  would  reach  it.  But  we 
didn't.  Biddy  had  to  go  to  work  as  a 
cook,  and  Dan  and  I  went  out  to  try  to 
borrow  some  money.  I  couldn't  bear  to 
let  in  somebody  else  after  all  the  heat  and 
toil  Dan  an.d  Biddy  and  I  had  endured, 
but  it  had  to  be  done.  We  took  in  a  fel 
low  from  Iowa  by  the  name  of  Eldred  and 
went  to  work  again. 

"  One  day  after  our  blast  I  was  the  first 
to  enter,  and  the  moment  that  I  saw  the 
heap  of  rock  I  knew  we  had  opened  the 
vein.  My  wildest  dreams  were  realized!  " 

"  And  then  your  troubles  ended,"  the 
girl  said  tenderly. 

"  No — for  now  a  strange  thing  hap 
pened.  The  assayer  tried  our  ore  again 
and  again  and  found  it  very  rich,  but 
when  we  shipped  to  the  mills  we  got  al 
most  no  returns.  We  tried  every  process, 
49 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

but  the  gold  seemed  to  slip  away  from  us. 
Finally  I  took  a  carload  and  went  with  it 
to  see  what  was  the  matter.  I  followed 
it  till  it  came  out  on  the  plates — that  is 
where  they  catch  the  gold  by  the  use  of 
quicksilver  spread  on  copper  plates — and 
it  seemed  all  right.  I  scraped  some  of  it 
up  and  put  it  into  a  small  vial  to  take 
home  with  me.  When  I  got  home  the 
company  assembled  to  hear  my  report, 
and  when  I  took  out  the  amalgam  to  show 
it  to  them  it  had  turned  to  a  queer  yellow- 
green  liquid.  I  was  astounded,,  but  Dan 
and  Biddy  crossed  themselves.  '  It's 
witch's  gold/  Biddy  said.  '  Dan,  have  no 
more  to  do  with  it.'  And  witch's  gold  it 
was.  They  gave  up  right  there  and  went 
back  to  work  in  the  camp.  Eldred  cursed 
me  for  getting  him  into  it,  and  so  they 
left  me  to  fight  it  out  alone.  I  was  like  a 
monomaniac — I  never  thought  of  giving 
up.  I  begged  a  little  money  from  my 
brother  and  bought  in  all  the  stock  of  the 
'  Biddy  Mining  Company/  and  went  to 
work  to  solve  the  mystery  of  the  amalgam. 
50 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

I  was  a  good  pupil  in  chemistry  at  college, 
and  I  put  my  whole  life  and  brain  into 
that  mystery  and  I  solved  it.  I  found  a 
way  to  treat  it  so  all  the  gold  was  saved. 
That  made  me  rich.  I  called  the  mine 
'  The  Witch/  and  it  has  made  me  what 
you  see." 

"It  is  like  a  fairy  tale  !  What  be 
came  of  your  faithful  friends,  Dan  and 
Biddy?" 

"  I  made  Dan  my  foreman  of  the  mine, 
and  I  built  an  eating-house  and  hotel  for 
Biddy.  They  are  with  me  yet.  Eldred 
I  bought  out  on  the  same  terms  as  the 
rest." 

He  had  a  sudden  sensation  of  heat  in 
his  face  as  he  passed  the  chasm  between 
the  withdrawal  of  Dan  and  Biddy  from 
the  firm  and  his  solution  of  the  amalgam. 
He  did  not  care  to  dwell  upon  that,  be 
cause  Eldred  had  sued  him  to  recover  his 
stock,  claiming  that  it  was  bought  in 
under  false  pretenses.  Neither  did  he 
care  to  enter  into  the  stormy  time  which 
followed  the  sudden  leap  of  "The  Witch" 
51 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

from  a  haunted  hole  in  the  ground  to  a 
cave  of  diamonds.  He  hurried  on  to  the 
end  while  she  listened  in  absorbed  interest 
like  a  child  to  a  wonder  story. 

She  sighed  in  the  world-old  manner  of 
women  and  said: 

"  And  I — I  have  done  nothing  worth 
telling.  I  ruined  my  health  by  careless 
living  at  school,,  and  here  I  am,  a  cum- 
foerer  of  the  earth." 

Some  men  would  have  hastened  to  be 
complimentary,,  but  Clement  remained 
silent.  He  was  trying  to  understand  her 
mood  that  he  might  meet  it  in  a  helpful 
way. 

"  But  if  I  am  permitted  to  live  I 
shall  be  different.  I  will  do  some 
thing." 

"  First  of  all,  get  well,"  he  said,  and 
his  words  had  the  force  of  a  command. 
"  Give  me  your  hand." 

She  complied,  and  he  took  it  in  a  firm 

clasp.     "  Now  I  want  you  to  promise  me 

3rou'll  turn  your  mind  from  darkness  to 

the  light,  from  the  canons  to  the  peaks — 

52 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

that  you  will  determine  to  live.     Do  you 


promise?" 


"  I  promise." 

"  Very  well.     I  shall  see  that  you  keep 
that  promise." 


53 


CHAPTEE   II 

It  was  rather  curious  to  see  that  as  she 
grew  in  strength  Clement  lost  in  assertive- 
ness — in  his  feeling  of  command.  He  be 
gan  to  comprehend  that  with  returning 
health  the  girl  was  not  altogether  pitiable. 
She  had  culture,  social  position  and 
wealth. 

The  distinction  of  his  readily-acquired 
millions  grew  to  be  a  very  poor  possession 
in  his  own  mind — in  fact,,  he  came  at  last 
to  such  self-confessed  utter  poverty  of 
mind  and  body  that  he  wondered  at  her 
continued  toleration.  He  ceased  to  plead 
any  special  worthiness  on  his  own  part 
and  began  to  throw  himself  on  her  mercy. 

As  the  time  came  on  when  she  no 
longer  needed  his  arm  for  support  he 
found  it  hard  to  offer  it  as  an  act  of  gal 
lantry.  In  fact,  in  that  small  act  was 
typified  the  change  which  he  came  ulti 
mately  to  assume.  At  first  she  had  seemed 
54 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

to  him  like  an  angelic  child.  Death's 
shadows  had  made  him  bold — but  now  he 
could  not  deceive  himself:  he  was  coming 
to  love  her  in  a  very  human  and  definite 
fashion.  He  dared  not  refer  to  the  past 
in  any  way,  and  his  visits  grew  more  and 
more  formal  and  carefully  accounted  for. 

She  thought  she  understood  all  this, 
and  was  serenely  untroubled  by  it.  She 
brooded  over  the  problem  with  dreamful 
lips  and  half-shut  eyes.  She  was  drifting 
back  to  life  on  a  current  of  mountain  air 
companioned  by  splendid  clouds,  and  her 
content  was  like  to  the  lotus-eaters  lan 
guor — it  held  no  thought  of  time  or  tide. 

That  she  idealized  him  was  true,  but 
he  grew  richly  in  grace.  All  the  small 
amenities  of  conduct  which  he  once  pos 
sessed  came  back  to  him.  He  studied  to 
please  her,  and  succeeded  in  that  as  in  his 
other  ventures.  He  did  not  exactly  aban 
don  his  business,  but  he  came  to  superin 
tend  his  superintendents. 

However,  he  attached  a  telephone  to  his 
mine  in  order  to  be  able  to  direct  his 
55 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

business  from  the  Springs.  He  still 
roomed  at  the  hotel,  though  Ellice  was 
living  in  a  private  house  farther  up  the 
canon.  His  rooms  were  becoming  filled 
with  books  and  magazines,  and  he  was 
struggling  hard  to  "  catch  up  "  with  the 
latest  literature. 

If  Ellice  referred  to  any  book,  even  in 
the  most  casual  way,  he  made  mental  note 
of  it,  and  if  he  had  read  it  he  re-read  it, 
and  if  he  had  not  read  it  he  secured  it  at 
once. 

"  I  know  something  of  chemistry  and 
mineralogy,  and  geology  and  milling  pro 
cesses,  but  of  art  and  literature  very 
little,"  he  said  to  her  once.  "  But  give 
me  time." 

The  highest  peaks  were  white  with 
September  snows  before  she  felt  able  to 
mount  a  horse.  Each  day  she  had  been 
able  to  go  a  little  farther  and  climb  a 
little  higher.  Her  gain  was  slow,  very 
slow,  but  it  was  almost  perceptible  from 
day  to  day. 

Mr.  Eoss  had  been  to  Chicago,  and  was 
56 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

once  more  at  the  Springs.  He  had 
brought  a  couple  of  nieces,  very  lively 
young  creatures,  who  annoyed  Clement 
exceedingly  by  their  impertinence — at 
least,  that  is  what  he  called  their  excessive 
interest  in  his  affairs.  Without  the  co 
operation  of  Ellice  he  would  have  found 
little  chance  to  see  her  alone,  but  she  had 
a  quiet  way  of  letting  them  know  when 
she  found  them  a  burden,  which  they 
respected. 

One  day  he  said  to  her,  "  Have  you 
forgotten  what  I  said  to  you  about  the 
spring  up  there  ?  " 

"  No,  I  have  not  forgotten.  Do  you 
think  I  can  go  now?  Am  I  really  well 
enough  to  go?" 

"  The  time  has  come." 

"What  would  the  doctor  say?" 

"  The  doctor — do  you  still  heed  what 
he  says?  " 

"Must  I  walk?" 

"  Yes,  to  have  the  water  heal  you.  But 
I  will  lead  old  Wisconse  for  you  to  ride 
down." 

57 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"  After  I  am  healed?" 

"  One  can  be  cured  and  yet  be  tired." 

They  set  off  in  such  spirits  as  children 
have,,  old  Wisconse  leading  soberly  be 
hind. 

Clement  was  obliged  to  check  the  girl. 

"  Now  don't  go  too  fast.  It  is  a  long 
way  up  there.  I  warn  you  it  is  almost  at 
timber-line." 

But  she  paid  small  heed  to  his  warning. 
She  felt  so  light,  so  active,  it  seemed  she 
could  not  tire. 

For  a  time  they  followed  the  wide  road 
which  climbed  steadily,  but  at  last  he 
stopped. 

"  Now  here  we  strike  the  trail,"  he  said. 
"  You  must  go  ahead,  for  I  am  to  lead  the 
horse." 

"  Not  far  ahead,"  she  exclaimed,  a  little 
bit  alarmed. 

"  Only  two  steps."  He  was  a  little 
amused  at  her.  "  Just  so  I  will  not  tread 
on  your  heels." 

"Yon   needn't   laugh.      I    know   they 
hunt  bears  up  here." 
58 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

They  climbed  for  some  time  in  com 
parative  silence. 

"  Oh,  how  much  greener  it  is  up  here!  " 
she  exclaimed  at  last,  looking  around,  her 
eyes  bright  with  excitement. 

He  smiled  indulgently.  "  You  tourists 
think  you  know  Colorado  when  you've 
crossed  it  once  on  the  railway.  This  is 
the  Colorado  which  you  seldom  see." 

She  was  in  rapture  over  the  glory  of 
color,  the  waving  grasses  of  smooth  hill 
sides,  and  the  radiant  dapple  of  light  and 
shadow  beneath  the  groves  of  vivid  yellow 
aspens.  The  cactus  and  Spanish  dagger, 
and  the  ever-present  sage  bush  of  the 
lower  levels,  had  disappeared,  crow's-foot 
and  blue-joint  grasses  swung  in  the  wind. 
The  bright  flame  of  the  painted  cup  and 
the  purple  of  the  asters  still  lighted  up 
the  aisles  of  the  pines  in  sheltered  places. 

"  There  are  many  more  in  August,"  he 
explained.  "  The  frost  has  swept  them 
all  away." 

"Is  this  our  stream?"  she  asked. 

"  Yes,  we  cross  it  many  times." 
59 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"  How  small  it  is." 

"  Are  you  tired?" 

"  Not  at  all." 

He  came  close  to  her  to  listen  to  her 
breathing.  "  You  must  not  do  too  much. 
If  you  find  yourself  out  of  breath  stop  and 
ride." 

"  I  want  to  be  cured." 

He  laughed.  "  By  the  way  you  lead  up 
this  trail  I  don't  think  you  need  medicine. 
I  never  finish  wondering  whether  you  are 
the  same  girl  I  met  first " 

She  flashed  a  glance  back  at  him.  "I'm 
not.  Fm  another  person." 

"  That  shows  what  three  months  of  this 
climate  will  do." 

"  Climate  did  not  do  it." 

"What  did?" 

"  You  did."  She  kept  marching  stead 
ily  forward,  her  head  held  very  straight 
indeed. 

"  I  wish  you  would  wait  a  moment/'  he 
pleaded. 

"  I  am  very  thirsty — I  want  to  reach 
the  spring." 

60 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"  But,  dear  girl,  you  can't  keep  this 
up." 

"  Can't  I?     Watch  me  and  see." 

She  seemed  possessed  of  some  miracu 
lous  staff,  for  she  mounted  the  steep  trail 
as  lightly  as  a  fawn.  Clement  was  in  an 
agony  of  apprehension  lest  she  should 
overdo  and  fall  fainting  in  the  path. 
This  ecstasy  of  activity  was  most  danger 
ously  persistent. 

It  was  past  noon  when  they  came  out 
of  the  aspens  and  pines  into  the  little 
smooth  slope  of  meadow  which  lay  be 
tween  the  low  peaks  which  were  already 
crusted  with  snow.  In  the  midst  of  the 
orange  and  purple  and  red  of  the  grasses 
lay  a  deep,  dark  pool  of  water — as  beauti 
ful  as  her  eyes,  it  seemed  to  him. 

"  Here  is  the  spring/'  Clement  called 
to  the  girl. 

"  I  knew  it,"  she  said. 

"Wait,"  he  called  again.  "I  must 
drink  with  you." 

He  hastened  up  and  dipped  a  cup  into 
the  water  and  handed  it  to  her. 
61 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"  Now  drink  confusion  to  disease." 

"  Confusion!"  She  drank.  "  Oh,  isn't 
it  sweet?  I  never  knew  before  how  good 
water  was.  But  here,  drink.  You  are 
dying  of  thirst,  too."  She  handed  him 
the  cup. 

"  I  want  to  drink  to  some  purpose  also/' 
he  said,  and  there  was  no  need  of  further 
words,  but  he  went  on,  his  full  heart  giv 
ing  eloquence  to  his  lips,  "I  want  to 
pledge  my  life  to  your  service — my  life 
and  all  I  am." 

She  grew  a  little  pale.  This  intensity 
of  emotion  awed  her  as  the  majestic  in 
Nature  affects  great  souls.  "  I  don't 
think  you  ought.  I  don't  think  I  am 
quite  worthy." 

"  Let  me  be  judge  of  that."  He  spoke 
quickly  and  almost  sharply.  "  Shall  I 
drink?" 

She  had  walked  on  while  Clement  was 
speaking,  and  stood  leaning  against  the 
browsing  horse.  After  a  little  hesitation 
she  answered,  "  If  you  are  thirsty." 

The  words  were  light,  but  he  under- 
62 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

stood   her.      He   drank   and   then    came 
straight  toward  her. 

She  shrank  from  him  in  sudden  timid 
ity  and  said  a  little  hurriedly,,  "  Help  me 
into  the  saddle.  I  shall  need  to  ride  back." 


63 


Part  III 


WESTWARD    VISTA 

The  half -sunk  sun 

Burns  through  the  dusty-crimson  sky  ; 
Streamers  of  gold  and  green  soar 
In  radiating  splendor,  like  the  spokes 
Of  God's  unmeasurable  chariot-wheels 
Half-hid  and  vanishing. 

A  round  me  is  coolness,  ripeness,  and  repose  ; 
The  smell  of  gathered  grain  and  fruits, 
A  nd  the  musky  breath  of  melons  fills  the  air. 
The  very  dust  is  fruity,  and  the  click 
Of  locusts'  'wings  is  like  the  close 
Of  gates  upon  great  stores  of  wheat. 
The  gathered  barley  bleaches  in  shock, 
The  corn  breathes  on  me  from  the  west, 
And  the  sky-line  'widens  on  and  on 
Until  I  see  the  'waves  of  yellow-green 
Break  on  thehillsthat  face  the  snow  and  lilac  peaks 
Of  Color  ado"1  s  mountains. 


WESTWARD   VISTA 

The  half -sunk  sun 

Burns  through  the  dusty-crimson  sky  ; 
Streamers  of  gold  and  green  soar 
In  radiating  splendor,  like  the  spokes 
Of  God'1  s  unmeasurable  chariot-wheels 
Half -hid  and  vanishing. 

A  round  me  is  coolness,  ripeness,  and  repose  ; 
The  smell  of  gathered  grain  and  fruits, 
A  nd  the  musky  breath  of  melons  fills  the  air. 
The  very  dust  is  fruity ,  and  the  click 
Of  locusts'  wings  is  like  the  close 
Of  gates  upon  great  stores  of  wheat. 
The  gathered  barley  bleaches  in  shock, 
The  corn  breathes  on  me  from  the  west, 
A  nd  the  sky-line  widens  on  and  on 
Until  I  see  the  waves  of  yellow-green 
Break  on  the  hills  that  face  the  snow  and  lilac  peaks 
Of  Colorado's  mountains. 


CHAPTEE   I 

At  first  Clement's  happiness  had  no 
further  base  of  uneasiness  than  the  lover's 
fear  of  loss.  It  all  seemed  too  good  to  be 
true,  and  he  had  a  hidden  fear  that  some 
thing  might  happen  to  set  him  back  where 
he  was  before  she  came.  It  was  quite  like 
his  feeling  about  his  mine — it  took  him  a 
certain  length  of  time  before  he  ceased  to 
dream  of  its  sudden  loss,  and  now  it 
seemed  (when  absent  from  her)  that  it 
would  be  easy  for  something  to  rob  him 
of  this  love  which  was  his  life. 

This  feeling  was  mixed,  too,  with  a 
feeling  of  his  unworthiness,  which  deep 
ened  the  more  closely  he  studied  her. 
She  was  so  free  from  all  bruise  and  stain 
of  life's  battle.  There  were  no  question 
able  places  in  her  life.  Could  he  say  as 
much? 

67 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"Whenever  he  asked  himself  the  ques 
tion  his  dealings  with  the  stockholders  of 
"The  Biddy"  came  into  his  mind.  Could 
he  afford  to  tell  his  bride  all  the  facts  in 
the  case?  This  feeling  of  dissatisfaction 
with  himself  led  him  to  do  many  extrava 
gant  things.  He  presented  her  with  beau 
tiful  and  costly  jewels  for  which  she  had 
little  taste. 

"Why,  Eichard.  What  made  you 
think  of  that?  "  she  said  once  after  he  had 
slipped  away  to  the  city  to  buy  her  some 
thing. 

"  Is  it  so  very  pretty?  " 

"It  is  beautiful!  But  can  we  afford 
such  things?  " 

"  We  can  afford  anything  that  will 
make  you  happy." 

He  made  a  similar  answer  when  she 
drew  back  a  little  startled  at  the  cost  of 
the  house  he  had  contracted  for. 

"Why,  it  is  a  palace!" 

"  The  best  is  scarcely  good  enough  for 
you."  After  a  moment  he  added,  "  You 
see,  I  know  you  can  never  live  East  again, 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

and  I  want  you  to  have  all  the  comforts 
of  a  palace  out  here.  And  so  long  as 
'  The  Witch '  holds  out  you  shall  have 
your  heart's  desire." 

Mr.  Eoss  had  come  to  have  a  profound 
respect  for  his  future  son-in-law.  "  I 
can't  say  that  he  don't  make  as  much  of  a 
fool  of  himself  as  any  prospective  bride 
groom,  but  he  is  a  business  man  at  the 
same  time.  He  don't  lose  his  head,,  by 
any  means."  He  was  telling  his  son  about 
Clement.  "  He  is  devoted  to  your  sister, 
but  I  went  over  to  his  mine  with  him  the 
other  day  and  it  is  perfectly  certain  that 
he  understands  his  business.  He  is  only 
reckless  when  buying  things  for  Ellice. 
He'll  take  care  of  her  and  the  mine,  too." 

Clement  felt  a  certain  incongruity 
every  time  he  put  on  his  miner's  dress 
and  went  through  the  mine.  "  I'm  too 
rough  for  her,  too  old,"  he  kept  thinking 
— trying  to  conceal  the  real  cause  of  his 
growing  fear. 

He  was  not  honest  with  himself.  He 
fought  round  the  real  point  of  danger. 
69 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

He  gave  a  generous  sum  to  the  library, 
aided  a  hospital,  and  did  other  things 
which  should  ease  a  bad  conscience,  and 
yet  do  not.  He  hastened  the  house  for 
ward,  and  passed  to  and  fro  between  his 
mine,  the  Springs  and  the  city  in  ceaseless 
activity. 

The  marriage  was  set  for  July,  just  a 
year  from  the  time  he  first  saw  her,  and 
the  winter  passed  quickly,  so  busied  was 
he  in  building  and  planning  the  home. 
He  grew  less  and  less  buoyant  and  more 
careworn  as  spring  wore  on,  and  Ellice 
could  not  understand  the  change.  He 
was  moody  and  changeable  even  in  her 
presence.  This  troubled  her,  and  she 
often  asked: 

"What  is  the  matter,  Eichard?  Is 
your  business  going  wrong?  " 

"  No,  oh  no.  Business  is  all  right. 
Nothing  is  the  matter."  And  ended  by 
convincing  her  that  something  was  very 
much  wrong  indeed.  And  she  grieved  in  si 
lence,  not  daring  to  question  him  further. 

The  self -revealing  touch  came  to  him  in 
70 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

a  curious  way  only  a  few  days  before  their 
wedding  day.  He  was  in  camp  on  a  final 
inspection  of  his  mine,  and  was  walking 
the  streets  at  night,  silent,  self-absorbed 
and  gloomy.  He  had  grown  morbid  and 
unwholesome  in  his  thought,  and  the 
wreck  of  his  happiness  seemed  already 
complete.  He  spent  a  great  deal  of  time 
in  long  and  lonely  walks. 

The  street  swarmed  with  rough,  noisy 
miners.  A  band  of  evangelists,  with 
drums  and  tambourines,  occupied  the 
central  corner.  A  low,  continuous  hum 
of  talk  could  be  heard  at  the  base  of  all 
other  noises. 

Being  in  no  mood  for  companionship 
Clement  stood  aside  from  it  all,  thinking 
how  far  above  all  this  life  his  beautiful 
bride  was. 

There  had  been  in  the  camp  for  some 
weeks  a  certain  sensational  evangelist — a 
man  of  some  power,  but  of  unhappy  dis 
position  apparently.  At  any  rate  he  had 
been  in  much  trouble  with  the  city 
authorities.  He  had  been  called  a  "  hypo- 
71 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

crite  and  fake  "  in  the  public  press,  and 
had  been  prosecuted  for  disturbance  of 
the  peace.  But  he  seemed  to  thrive  on 
such  treatment. 

Clement  had  paid  very  little  attention 
to  the  man  and  his  troubles,  but  as  he 
looked  down  the  street  at  the  crowd 
around  the  speakers  on  the  corner  it  oc 
curred  to  him  to  wonder  if  they  were  the 
fighting  evangelists. 

He  was  about  to  move  that  way  when 
he  observed  near  him  in  the  dark  middle 
of  the  street  a  man  and  a  woman. 

"  This  will  do  as  well  as  anywhere/'  the 
man  said,  putting  down  a  small  box.  He 
wore  a  broad  cowboy  hat,  and  a  long  coat 
which  hung  unbuttoned  down  his  power 
ful  figure.  The  woman  was  tall  and 
slender,  and  neatly  dressed  in  gray. 
Clement  understood  that  these  were  the 
persecuted  ones. 

The  man  mounted  the  box,  and  in  a 

powerful  but  not  very  musical  voice  began 

to  sing  a  hymn  full  of  cowboy  slang.     His 

singing    had    a    quality    not    usual    in 

72 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

street  singers,  and  a  crowd  quickly  gath 
ered  about  him.  His  song  was  long  and 
not  without  a  rude  poetry.  He  began  his 
address  at  last  by  issuing  a  defiance  to  his 
enemies.  This  would  mean  little  in  an 
Eastern  village,  perhaps,  but  in  a  mining 
camp,  even  a  degenerate  mining  camp,  it 
might  mean  a  great  deal — life  or  death, 
in  fact. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  I  want  to  say  some 
thing  as  a  preface  in  order  to  know  just 
where  we  stand.  Some  citizens  of  the 
town  have  vilified  me  in  private  and  in 
the  public  press — over  an  assumed  name, 
however.  It  wouldn't  be  healthy  for  any 
man  to  do  it  openly.  The  man  is  a  liar — 
but  I  don't  care  about  myself.  It  is  a 
little  difference  of  opinion  among  men, 
but  some  miscreant  has  reflected  upon  the 
good  name  of  my  wife.  Now  let  me  say 
that  the  man  that  says  my  wife  is  not  a 
lady  and  a  woman  of  the  highest  char 
acter,  insults  the  mother  of  my  children 
and  will  answer  to  me  for  every  word  he 
utters/' 

73 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

A  little  thrill  of  interest  and  awe  ran 
through  the  crowd.  The  man's  voice 
meant  battle,  and  battle  to  the  hilt  of  the 
bowie.  It  was  so  easy  to  prove  a  mark 
for  desperate  men,  but  there  was  no  fear 
in  the  attitude  of  the  speaker.  He  had 
come  up  through  a  wild  life,  and  knew  his 
audience,  his  accuser  and  himself. 

His  voice  took  a  sudden  change — it 
grew  tender  and  reverent.  "  I  am  here 
to  preach  the  gospel  of  Christ  and  Him 
crucified.  I  may  not  do  it  in  the  best  way 
always,  but  I  do  it  as  well  as  I  know  how/' 
Here  his  tone  grew  severely  earnest  and 
savage  again,  as  he  added:  "But  I  shall 
defend  the  honor  of  my  wife  with  my 
life." 

His  voice  and  pose  were  magnificent — 
lion-like. 

His  manner  changed  again  with  dra 
matic  suddenness.  He  took  the  whole 
street  into  his  confidence. 

"  I  love  my  wife,  gentlemen.  She  has 
borne  three  children  to  me.  She  is  a 
good  woman.  A  mighty  sight  smarter 
74 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

and  better  than  I  am,  but  she  can't  defend 
herself  against  sneaks  and  reptilious 
liars.  I  can.  That's  part  of  my  business. 
I  tell  you,  boys/'  he  added  in  a  low  voice 
very  sincere  and  winning,,  "  they  ain't  no 
man  good  enough  to  marry  a  good  woman; 
it's  just  her  good,  pure,  kind  heart  gives 
him  any  show  at  all." 

A  sudden  lump  rose  in  Clement's 
throat.  The  man's  deep  humility  and 
loyalty  and  apparent  sincerity  had  gone 
straight  to  his  own  heart  and  touched  him 
in  a  very  sensitive  place.  He  turned 
away  and  sought  the  deeper  shadow  with 
his  head  bowed  in  black  despair. 

He  thought  of  the  eyes  of  his  bride 
with  a  shudder  almost  of  fear.  Could  he 
ever  face  her  again? 

"  Oh,  God!  How  pure  and  dainty  and 
unspotted  she  is,  and  I — I  am  unclean." 

He  saw  as  clearly  as  if  a  light  had  been 
turned  in  upon  his  secret  thought,  that 
the  ownership  of  "  The  Witch "  was  in 
question.  He  had  not  been  candid  with 
her — he  had  been  dishonest.  He  had  not 
75 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

dared  to  let  her  know  how  he  had  secured 
control  of  that  stock. 

All  the  way  back  to  the  Springs  he 
wrestled  with  himself  about  it.  He  ended 
by  reasserting  the  justice  of  his  position, 
and  resolved  to  tell  her  at  once  the  whole 
story  and  let  her  judge.  He  had  in  his 
pocket  the  deed  to  the  house  and  lot, 
which  he  determined  now  to  give  her  at 
once,  and  to  make  explanations  at  the 
same  time. 

This  he  did.  He  called  to  see  her  the 
following  afternoon  and  found  her  sur 
rounded  with  women  and  gowns  and 
flowers.  The  women  fled  when  he  ap 
proached,  but  the  gowns  and  flowers  re 
mained,  and  there  was  talk  upon  them  till 
at  last,  in  sheer  desperation,  Clement 
said: 

"  Ellice,  here  is  something  that  I  want 
to  give  you  now.  It  is  my  wedding  gift." 

He  placed  in  her  hand  the  deed.  She 
looked  at  it. 

"  Oh,   there's   so   much   fine   print.     I 
can't  read  it  now.     What  is  it?" 
76 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"  It  is  the  deed  to  the  new  home." 

Her  eyes  misted  with  quick  emotion. 

"  How  good  you  are  to  me,  Bichard." 

"  No,  if  s  precaution,"  he  replied  as 
lightly  as  he  could.  "  We  will  have  a 
home  always  if  you  don't  lose  it  in  some 
wild  speculation." 

She  put  her  arms  about  his  neck,  an 
infrequent  caress  with  her. 

"  How  rich  we  are.  God  is  good  to  us. 
And  is  it  not  good  to  think  that  our 
wealth  does  not  come  from  anybody's 
misery?  It  comes  out  of  the  earth  like 
a  spring — like  the  spring  that  made  me 
well." 

As  he  looked  down  into  her  face  it 
seemed  lit  from  within  by  some  Heavenly 
light,  and  her  voice  made  his  head  grow 
dizzy.  He  could  not  tell  her  his  story 
then. 

He  sat  down  and  listened  to  her  talk. 
She  wanted  to  know  what  troubled  him, 
and  he  was  forced  to  lie. 

"  Oh,  nothing.  I'm  a  little  worried 
about  a — new  piece  of  machinery."  This 
77 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

gave  him  a  thought.  "I  must  be  away 
this  evening.  I  can't  take  dinner  with 
you." 

She  was  not  one  of  those  who  worry 
with  expostulations  or  complainings.  She 
had  a  mind  of  her  own,  and  she  granted 
the  same  decision  to  others. 

"  Very  well,"  she  said,  and  she  flashed 
a  sudden  roguish  look  at  him.  "  Don't 
forget  to  breakfast  with  me." 

He  had  the  grace  to  return  her  smile 
as  he  said: 

"  Oh,  I'll  not  forget.  I've  charged  my 
mind  with  it." 

His  going  was  like  a  flight.  His  inner 
cry  was  this: 

"My  God!  I  am  absolutely  unworthy 
of  her.  I  am  big,  coarse  and  dishonest — 
unfit  to  touch  her  hand." 

His  gloomy  face  and  bent  head  was  a 
subject  of  joke  for  the  acquaintances  he 
met  on  the  street. 

"  Saddle  Susanna,"  he  called  sharply  to 
his  Mexican  hostler.     He  had  made  up 
his  mind  to  radical  measures. 
78 


The  Spirit  of  Swcetwater 

As  he  sat  in  his  room  with  his  face 
buried  in  his  hands  shutting  out  the  light 
of  the  splendid  sunset,  he  saw  her  as  she 
sat  among  her  soft  silks  and  dainty  flowers. 
Her  lovely  eyes  and  the  exquisite  texture 
of  her  skin  grew  more  and  more  wonder 
ful  to  him.  The  touch  of  his  lips  to  hers 
came  to  seem  an  act  of  pollution.,  almost 
of  envenoming,  as  he  brooded  on  his  un- 
worthiness. 

He  wrote  a  note  to  her  on  the  impulse 
of  the  moment.  The  missive  read: 

"I  am  not  fit  to  see  you,  to  touch  you.  I  am 
going  away  across  the  divide  to  make  restitution 
for  a  great  wrong  I  have  done.  If  I  do  not  I  can 
never  face  you  again.  When  I  see  you  again  I 
will  be  an  honest  man,  or  I — if  you  think  me 
worthy  of  forgiveness  I  will  see  you  and  ask  it 
to-morrow.  RICHARD." 

He  added  as  a  postscript: 

"  I  am  well.  I  am  not  crazy,  but  I  am  not  an 
honest  man.  I  can't  kiss  you  again  till  I  am." 

Upon  reading  this  note  he  saw  it  would 
frighten  her,  and  keep  her  in  agony  of 
suspense,   therefore   he   tore   it   up,    and 
79 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

rushing  out  of  the  house  leaped  into  the 
saddle. 

The  spirited  little  broncho  was  fresh 
and  mettlesome,  and  went  off  in  a  series 
of  sheeplike  bounds  which  her  rider 
seemed  not  to  notice. 

He  drew  rein  at  the  telegraph  office, 
and  there  sent  three  telegrams.  They 
were  all  alike: 

"Meet  me  at  the  office  at  midnight.  Impor 
tant." 

As  he  turned  Susanna's  head  up  the 
trail  the  mountains  stood  deep  purple 
silhouettes  against  the  cloudlessness  of 
the  sky.  The  wind  blew  from  the  heights 
cool  and  fragrant,  and  the  little  horse  set 
nostril  to  it  as  if  she  anticipated  and  wel 
comed  the  hard  ride. 

The  way  lay  over  forbidding  mountain 
passes  ten  thousand  feet  above  the  sea, 
and  her  rider  was  a  heavy  man.  But 
Susanna  was  of  broncho  strain  with  a 
blooded  sire,  which  makes  the  hardiest 
and  swiftest  mountain  horse  in  the  world. 

Clement's  mind  cleared  as  he  began  the 
80 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

ascent — cleared  but  did  not  rest.  Over 
and  over  the  problem  came,,  each,  time 
clearer  and  more  difficult.  He  must  that 
night  give  away  a  hundred  and  thirty-five 
thousand  dollars — terrible  ordeal!  Ninety 
thousand  dollars  to  go  to  an  old  Irishman 
and  his  wife — both  ignorant,  careless. 

What  would  they  do  with  it?  It  might 
drive  them  crazy.  As  they  now  lived  they 
were  comfortable.  He  had  made  Dan 
sub-superintendent  of  the  mine,  and  he 
had  rebuilt  the  eating-house  for  Biddy. 
Could  they  take  care  of  the  big  fortune 
he  was  about  to  give  them? 

Ought  he  not  to  give  them  a  few  thou 
sands — such  sum  as  they  could  compre 
hend  and  take  care  of?  Would  it  not  be 
better  for  them? 

Then  there  was  forty-five  thousand 
dollars  to  be  given  to  a  cheap  little  man — 
that  was  hardest  of  all,  for  he  had  come  to 
hate  the  sight  of  the  sleek  black  head  of 
Arthur  Eldred.  Yes,  but  he  had  saved 
the  day.  He  had  put  in  six  hundred 
dollars  when  every  dollar  was  a  ducat. 
81 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

True,  but  the  reward  was  too  great.  A 
hundred  thousand  dollars  for  six  hundred. 

Oh,  this  was  familiar  ground!  He  had 
gone  over  it  in  a  sort  of  sub-conscious 
way  a  hundred  times,  each  time  appar 
ently  the  final  one.  It  had  been  quite 
settled  when  this  slender  little  woman 
first  lifted  her  face  to  him,  and  now  noth 
ing  was  settled. 

It  was  very  still  and  cold.  There  was 
no  stream  to  sing  up  through  the  pines, 
and  no  wind  in  the  pines  to  answer  should 
the  stream  call.  Nothing  seemed  to  be 
stirring  save  the  pensive  man  and  his 
faithful  pony. 

Eeaching  the  upper  levels  he  spurred 
on  at  a  gallop,  finding  some  relief  in  the 
pounding  action  of  the  saddle  and  in  the 
rush  of  air  past  his  ears.  The  moon  was 
late,  but  when  it  came  it  seemed  to  help 
him,  lightening  his  mood  as  it  lightened 
the  trail.  The  big  ledges  and  lowering, 
lesser  peaks  lifted  into  the  dark  sky 
weirdly  translucent,  and  their  upper 
edges  seemed  smooth  and  graceful  as  the 
82 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

rims  of  bubbles.  Solid  rock  seemed 
melted  and  transfused  with  light  and  air. 
It  was  all  miraculously  beautiful,  and  the 
sore-hearted  man  lifted  his  eyes  to  the 
heights  seeing  the  face  of  a  girl  in  every 
moonlit  rock  and  in  every  wayside  pool. 

As  he  entered  the  office  he  found  them 
all  waiting  for  him — Dan  and  Biddy  in 
their  best  dress,  and  Eldred  with  a  super 
cilious  half-grin,  half-scowl  on  his  face. 

Clement  nodded  at  him,  but  said 
"  Hello  "  to  Dan  and  "  Good-evening  "  to 
Biddy.  Conly,  his  trusted,  discreet  cash 
ier,  was  at  his  desk,  and  the  office  was 
dimly  lit  with  a  single  electric  bulb. 

Dan  and  Biddy  greeted  him  cautiously, 
for  Eldred  had  filled  their  simple  souls 
with  suspicion.  "  He  wants  to  compro 
mise.  He's  afraid  of  our  suit  against 
him/' 

As  a  matter  of  fact  Dan  would  never 
put  a  dollar  into  the  plan  for  a  suit,  and 
it  had  never  gone  beyond  Eldred's  talk — 
and  yet  he  had  made  them  suspicious. 
Dan  was  forced  to  confess  that  Clement 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

was  becoming  an  "  a-ristocrat."  And 
Biddy  acknowledged  that  he  "  sildom 
dairkened  her  dure  these  days."  They 
had  always  felt  his  superiority  and  refine 
ment,,  and  they  rose  as  he  entered. 

He  wasted  no  time  in  preliminaries. 
"  Sit  down,"  he  said  imperiously,  and  his 
face,  when  he  turned  to  the  light,  was 
knotted  with  trouble.  He  sat  for  a  mo 
ment  with  bent  head  while  he  strength 
ened  his  heart  to  a  bitter  and  humiliating 
task.  He  began  abruptly: 

"  Dan,  you  remember  the  time  I 
brought  the  amalgam  home  in  a  vial  and 
it  had  turned  green?  " 

"  I  do.     Yis." 

"You  remember  that  you  gave  it  up 
right  then." 

"  I  did.     I  said  it's  <  witch's  gould/  " 

"  Sure  such  it  looked  like  that  day," 
said  Biddy. 

"  All  the  same,  the  thing  which  scared 
you  put  a  happy  thought  into  my  head, 
and  I  felt  then  I  could  solve  it."  He 
lifted  his  head  and  looked  around  defi- 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

antly.  "  In  short,  when  I  bought  your 
stock  in  at  ten  cents  on  the  dollar  I  knew 
it  was  worth  par,  for  I  had  solved  the 
process." 

There  was  a  silence  very  awesome  fol 
lowing  the  defiant  ring  of  the  voice. 

Eldred  was  the  first  to  comprehend 
what  it  meant.  His  eyes  glittered  like 
those  of  an  awakened  rat. 

"Do  you  mean  that?  If  that's  true 
you  robbed  us,  you  thief,  robbed  us  cold 
and  clean."  He  sprang  up.  "I  knew 
you'd  do  something — 

"Sit  down/'  interrupted  Clement  harsh 
ly.  "  I'm  not  going  to  have  any  words 
with  you.  If  I  had  seen  fit  not  to  tell 
you  of  this  how  much  would  you  have 
known  of  it?  Sit  down  and  keep  your 
tongue  between  your  teeth."  He  turned 
to  Dan  and  his  voice  was  softer.  "  Dan, 
when  I  was  hungry  you  took  me  in  and 
fed  me.  For  that  I've  given  you  a  good 
position.  Is  that  debt  paid?  " 

"  Sure,  Clement,  me  boy,  it  was  only  a 
sup  of  p'taties  an'  ba^on,  annyway." 
85 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"  Biddy,  I  turned  over  two  thousand 
dollars  to  you,  and  rebuilt  your  eating- 
house.  You  thought  that  paid  the  debt 
I  owed  you?" 

Biddy  was  slower  to  answer.  "  For  all 
the  grub  an'  the  loikes  o'  that,  indade  yis, 
Mr.  Clement — but  sure  we  wor  pard- 
ners " 

Clement  interrupted.  "I  know.  Fm 
coming  to  that.  Now  answer  me.  If  it 
hadn't  been  for  me  wouldn't  you  have 
thrown  up  the  sponge  long  before  you 
did?" 

The  silence  of  the  little  group  answered 
him. 

"  Would  any  of  you  ever  have  worked 
out  the  mystery  of  that  ore?  Weren't 
you  all  anxious  to  sell  for  anything  you 
could  get?" 

They  were  all  silent  as  before. 

"  I  made  the  mine  worth  money.  I 
discovered  the  secret,  it  was  my  invention. 
I  paid  you  four  times  what  you  had  put 
into  it.  The  mine  was  worthless  until  I 
invented  a  process  for  saving  the  gold.  I 
86 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

claimed  it  as  an  invention  like  any  man 
claims  a  patent  right.  I  believed  I  had  a 
right  to  it — to  all  of  it,  and  so  I  bought 
in  your  stock  after  I  had  solved  the  prob 
lem  of  the  reduction.  I  say  I  believed  I 
was  right — to-night  I  believe  I  was  wrong 
—it  don't  matter  how  I  came  to  the  con 
clusion,  but  I've  changed  my  mind.  I 
have  come  to-night  to  make  restitution. 
I  am  ready  to  pay  you  ninety  cents  more 
on  every  dollar  of  stock  you  sold  me  at 
that  time." 

Biddy  gasped:  "  Howly  Saints!  " 

Dan  leaped  up  with  a  wild  hurrah. 
"Listen  to  that  now!"  he  cried,  with 
other  incoherences.  He  shook  Clement's 
hand  and  kissed  Biddy.  He  praised 
Clement. 

"  Ye're  the  whitest  man  that  iver 
stepped  green  turf." 

Clement  sat  coldly  impassive  and  un 
smiling. 

"Then  you're  satisfied?" 

"  Satisfied!  "  shouted  Dan.     "  Satisfied 
is  it,  man?     Indade  I  am." 
87 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"  And  you,  Biddy  ?" 

Biddy  was  weeping  and  muttering  wild 
Irish  prayers.  "  Dan,  dear,  do  ye  under 
stand,  it's  forty-five  thousand  dollars 
apiece  to  the  two  of  us.  Oh,  the  blessed 
old  Ireland!  I'll  go  back  sure.  Oh,  it's 
too  good  to  be  true — we  must  be  dramin'." 

Clement  looked  at  the  distracted  woman 
with  a  flush  of  self-righteousness.  He 
had  been  right  in  his  fears.  It  seemed 
like  to  ruin  the  simple  souls.  He  turned 
to  Eldred,  who  sat  in  silence. 

"  What  have  you  to  say?  " 

Eldred  sneered.  "  I  say  you  can't  fool 
me.  These  shares  are  worth  seventeen 
dollars  and  eighty  cents  each.  I  want 
their  market  value,  not  their  par  value. 
I  want  one-quarter  the  present  value  of 
'  The  Witch/  " 

Clement's  brow  darkened  and  his  eyes 
burned  with  a  fierce  steady  light. 

"  Is  that  all  you  want?  If  I  served  you 
right  I'd  kick  you  out  of  the  door  and  let 
you  do  your  worst.  I  know  if  you  sue 
that  you  can't  recover  one  dollar  from  me. 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

But  I  have  my  reasons  for  putting  up  with 
your  insolence.  I  will  pay  you  forty-five 
thousand  dollars  and  not  one  cent  more. 
The  market  value  of  '  The  Witch '  to-day 
I  have  made  by  my  management.  I  have 
gone  on  improving  the  mine  day  by  day. 
As  it  stands  it  is  a  new  property.  You 
were  a  quarter  owner  in  '  The  Biddy/  We 
capitalized  '  The  Biddy '  at  your  own  sug 
gestion  at  two  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
because  we  wanted  it  big  enough  to  cover 
all  values.  When  I  render  you  your  share 
of  that  I  am  doing  you  justice.  John, 
make  out  three  checks  for  forty-five  thou 
sand  dollars  each." 

Dan  and  Biddy  turned  upon  Eldred  and 
talked  him  into  silence,  but  he  was  un 
convinced. 

Clement  refused  to  touch  the  checks, 
and  the  clerk  said:  "  Here  is  yours, 
Biddy." 

Biddy  went  up  and  took  the  slip  in  her 
hands.  "  Is  that  little  slip  o'  white  paper 
really  worth  so  much?" 

"  Call  at  the  bank  and  get  your  money 
89 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

when  you  want  it,"  said  the  imperturbable 
cashier. 

Dan  studied  his  check,  his  face  foolish 
with  joy. 

Eldred  took  his,  saying,  "  This  puts 
into  my  hands  the  means  to  fight/' 

Clement  merely  nodded.  "You  know 
my  address."  Eldred  went  out  without 
further  word. 

"When  the  door  closed  on  him  Clement's 
face  lost  its  sternness,  and  he  became  sad 
and  tender. 

His  struggle  was  not  yet  done.  His 
mind  was  clear  about  the  man  who  came 
in  at  the  eleventh  hour,  but  it  was  not 
clear  with  regard  to  these  true-hearted 
old  friends  who  had  been  with  him  from 
the  first.  He  recalled  the  time  when 
Dan's  big  arm  had  helped  him  to  a  chair, 
and  Biddy  had  put  the  steaming  soup  be 
fore  him — food  worth  all  the  gold  in  the 
world  at  that  moment.  He  recalled  her 
broad,  kindly  face,  hot  and  shining  from 
the  stove;  he  remembered  their  struggles, 
their  sacrifices. 

90 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"Wait  a  moment,  Biddy/'  he  said,  as 
they  called  out  "  Good-night/'  and  started 
to  leave. 

"  Sit  down  a  moment,  and  you,  too, 
Dan.  I  want  to  talk  over  old  times  a 
while." 

They  sat  down  in  stupefaction. 

"Biddy,  do  you  remember  the  money 
you  squandered  on  the  lottery  ticket  ?  " 

A  slow  smile  broadened  her  face.  "I 
do,  Mister  Clement — and  I  remember  I 
won  the  prize  sure! " 

"You  did,  and  saved  all  our  lives.  Dan, 
do  you  remember  the  day  we  lost  our  last 
five-dollar  gold  piece  in  the  grass?  " 

Dan  slapped  his  knee.  "Do  I?  I 
wore  me  hands  raw  as  beef  combin'  the 
grass  that  day/' 

"Ah,  those  were  great  days.  We  had 
days  when  forty-five  cents  would  have 
made  us  joyous,  and  here  you  are  with 
ninety  thousand  dollars,  and  wishin'  for 
more." 

Dan  laughed  again.  "  Sure,  that's  no 
lie." 

91 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"It  is,  Dan  Kelly/'  said  Biddy.  "I 
have  enough — too  much.  My  heart  mis 
gives  me  now.  Fm  afraid  of  it,  sure. 
I'm  scared  to  carry  it  away  wid  me." 

"  You're  safe,  Biddy;  nobody  will  steal 
that  check."  A  sudden  impulse  seized 
him.  "  Dan,  you  believed  in  me  in  those 
days — give  me  that  check."  Dan  slowly 
handed  to  him  the  check.  Clement  took 
it  and  turned.  "  Biddy,  you  fed  me  when 
I  was  starving,  and  you  pawned  every 
thing  you  had  to  '  grub-stake  '  me — give 
me  your  check."  She  handed  it  to  him 
without  hesitation.  He  tore  them  into 
small  pieces. 

"  Dan,  you  are  mining  boss,  and  I  make 
you  both  quarter  owners  in  (  The  Witch ' 
with  all  I  have,  and  share  and  share  alike, 
as  we  did  when  we  hadn't  a  dime.  Now 
hurrah  for  <  The  Witch/  " 

Nobody  shouted  but  the  cashier.  Dan 
sat  in  a  stupor,  and  Biddy  was  weeping, 
with  one  arm  flung  around  Dan's  neck. 
Dan  was  turning  his  hat  around  on  his 
fingers  and  staring  at  Clement's  face  for 
92 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

some  solution  to  the  situation.  It  was 
beyond  his  imagination. 

Clement  did  not  speak  again  for  some 
moments.  When  he  did  his  voice  was 
husky  and  tremulous  with  emotion. 
"You  notice  I  say  quarter  interest — that's 
because  there  is  a  new  member  in  the  firm 
now.  She  comes  in  to-morrow.  I  want 
you  to  see  how  she  looks/'  He  extended 
a  picture  of  Ellice  to  Biddy.  She  made 
a  marvelous  dramatic  shift  of  features, 
and  a  smile  of  admiration  broke  through 
the  red  of  her  broad  countenance. 

"  Oh,  the  swate,  blessed  angel.  Sure, 
she's  beautiful  as  one  of  the  saints  in  the 
church.  Luk  at  her,  Dan.'' 

"Fin  lukin'.  She's  none  too  good  for 
him." 

"Don't  say  that,  Dan!"  Clement  pro 
tested  in  an  earnest  tone.  "  All  you  have 
to-night  you  owe  to  her.  All  the  best 
thoughts  in  me  to-day  I  owe  to  her." 


93 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 


CHAPTER   II 

There  remained  to  him  now  all  the  joy 
of  riding  back  to  tell  her  of  his  purifica 
tion  of  soul.  His  heart  was  so  joyous  it 
kept  time  to  every  happy  song  in  the 
world. 

The  gloom  and  doubt  of  himself  had 
passed  away,  but  the  wonder  and  mystery 
of  woman's  love  for  man  remained.  He 
felt  himself  to  be  an  honest  man,  but  a 
man  big,  crude  and  coarse  compared  to 
her  beauty  and  delicacy.  He  marveled  at 
her  bravery  and  her  magnanimity.  Leav 
ing  Susanna  he  leaped  upon  a  fresh  horse 
and  set  off,  riding  fast  toward  the  divide. 
The  wind  had  risen  and  was  blowing  from 
the  dim  domes  of  the  highest  mountains 
— a  cold  wind,  and  he  would  have  said  a 
sad  wind  had  his  heart  not  been  so  light. 
As  it  was,  he  lifted  his  bared  forehead  to 
it  exultantly. 

He  put  behind  him,  so  far  as  in  his 
94 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

power  lay,  all  thought  of  the  great  wealth 
he  had  given  away.  He  was  eager  to  pour 
out  the  whole  story  to  her,  and  hear  her 
say,  "  Well  done,  Bichard." 

Over  and  over  again  his  thought  ran: 
"  Now  I  am  an  honest  man.  I  am  not 
worthy  of  her,  but  at  least  my  heart  is 
clean." 

Henceforth  she  was  to  be  his  altar  of 
sacrifice.  All  he  did  would  be  for  her 
approval.  All  there  was  of  his  money, 
his  inventive  skill,  his  command  of  men, 
should  be  hers.  She  should  regulate  every 
hour  of  his  coming  and  going,  and  share 
all  the  plans  and  purposes  of  his  life. 

"Oh,  I  must  live  right,  and  deal  justly," 
he  thought.  "  I  must  be  a  better  man 
from  this  time  forth." 

In  the  east  the  pale  lances  of  the  com 
ing  sun  pierced  the  breasts  of  the  soaring 
gray  clouds,  and,  behold,  they  grew  to  be 
the  most  splendid  orange  and  red  and 
purple.  The  stars  began  to  pale,  and  as 
he  came  to  the  eastern  slope  where  the 
plain  stretched  to  dim  splendor,  like  a 
95 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

motionless  sea  of  russet  and  purple,  the 
sun  was  rising. 

The  plain  seemed  lonely  and  desolate  of 
life,  so  far  below  was  it.  All  action  was 
lost  in  the  mist  of  immensity — men's 
stature  that  of  the  most  minute  insects. 
And  down  there  in  the  pathway  of  the 
morning  was  the  little  woman  of  all  the 
world  waiting  for  him! 

As  he  rode  down  the  slope  to  the  river 
level  into  the  town  the  sun  was  swinging, 
big  and  red,  high  above  the  horizon.  His 
long  ride  had  made  him  look  wan  and 
pale,  but  he  ordered  coffee  and  a  biscuit, 
and  was  glad  to  find  it  helped  him  to  look 
less  wan  and  sorrowful.  He  dressed  with 
great  care,  then  sat  down  to  wait.  At 
7:30  o'clock  he  sent  a  note  to  her: 

"  I  have  not  forgotten.  When  do  you  break 
fast?" 

She  replied: 

' 'Good-morning,  dearest.  Breakfast  is  ready; 
come  as  soon  as  you  can." 

He  entered  the  room  with  the  heart  of 
96 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

a  boy,  the  presence  of  an  athlete.  He  was 
at  his  prime  of  robust  manhood,  and  his 
physical  pride  was  unconscious. 

She  was  proud  of  him,  and  met  him 
more  than  half  way  in  his  greeting.  Her 
face  was  still  slender  and  delicate  of  color, 
but  in  her  eyes  was  a  serene  brightness, 
and  her  lips  were  tremulous  with  happi 
ness. 

She  led  him  to  the  little  table.  "  Now 
you  mustn't  call  this  breakfast,"  she  ex 
plained.  "  This  is  a  private  cup  of  coffee 
to  sustain  us  through  the  ordeal.  We  all 
breakfast  immediately  after  the  cere 
mony." 

"  Fve  had  one  breakfast  this  morning." 

She  looked  dismayed. 

"  At  least  a  roll  and  a  cup  of  coffee,"  he 
hastened  to  explain.  "  However,  I  think 
I  could  eat  all  there  is  here  and  not  be 
inconvenienced." 

They  sat  down  and  looked  at  each  other 
in  silence.  She  spoke  first. 

"Just  think,  this  is  the  last  time  you 
will  ever  sit  down  with  Miss  Boss." 
97 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

"  You  seem  to  be  sad  about  it." 

"  I  am — and  yet  I  am  very  happy.  I 
don't  suppose  you  men  can  understand, 
but  a  woman  wants  to  marry  the  man  she 
loves — and  yet  she  is  sad  at  leaving  girl 
hood  behind.  Now  let  me  see,  you  take 
two  lumps,  don't  you?  I  must  not  forget 
that.  It  makes  the  waiter  stare  when  a 
wife  can't  remember  how  many  lumps  of 
sugar  her  husband  takes." 

He  felt  his  courage  oozing  away,  and  so 
began  abruptly: 

"  Ellice,  I  have  a  story  to  tell  and  a  con 
fession  to  make  to  you." 

She  looked  a  little  startled.  "That 
sounds  ominous,  Eichard — like  the  villain 
in  the  play,  only  he  makes  his  confession 
after  marriage." 

He  was  very  sober  indeed  now.  "  That's 
the  reason  I  make  mine  now.  I  want  you 
to  know  just  what  I  am  before  you  marry' 
me." 

She  leaned  her  chin  on  her  clasped 
hands  and  looked  at  him.  "  Tell  me  all 
about  it." 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

He  did.  He  began  at  the  beginning,, 
and  while  it  would  not  be  true  to  say  he 
did  not  spare  himself,,  he  told  the  story  as 
it  actually  happened.  He  concealed  no 
essential. 

.  "  I  rode  there  and  back  last  night  sim 
ply  because  I  couldn't  kiss  you  again  until 
I  had  made  myself  an  honest  man." 

She  reached  out  and  clutched  the  hand 
which  lay  on  the  table  near  her — a  sudden 
convulsive  embrace. 

"Last  night?" 

"  Yes,,  I've  been  to  the  camp  since  I  left 
you  last  night.  I  couldn't  stand  with  you 
— there — before  all  our  friends,,  till  I 
could  say  I  had  no  other  man's  money  in 
my  pockets." 

She  took  his  hand  in  both  of  her  own 
and  bent  her  head  and  touched  her  cheek 
to  his  fingers.  She  was  very  deeply 
moved. 

And  he — though  his  voice  choked — fal 
tered  through: 

"  I  gave  it  all  back.,  dear — I  mean  I 
gave  over  to  Biddy  and  Dan  their  full 
99 


The  Spirit  of  Sweetwater 

share — they  are  equal  owners  with  you 
and  me  in  '  The  Witch/  I  tried  to  with 
hold  some  of  it;  it  was  hard  to  give  it  all 
back;  but  I  did  it  because  I  believed  you 
would  approve  of  it.  And  now,  if  you 
will  let  me,  I  can  call  you  my  wife  with 
a  clear  conscience." 

For  answer  she  rose  and  came  to  his 
side,  and  put  her  arms  about  his  neck 
and  laid  a  kiss  on  his  upturned  face. 
Words  were  of  no  avail.  In  his  heart  the 
man  was  still  afraid  of  one  so  good  and 
loving. 


THE 


100 


14  DAY  USE 

DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 


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